
iSOO M 






SrijE (Hommontocaltl) of itla00acl)usett0 

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 



THE FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN 
IN BOSTON 



AN INVESTIGATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH 
WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION, BOSTON 

LUCILE EAVES, Ph.D., Director 
IN CO-OPERATION WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 




BOSTON 

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS 

32 DERNE STREET 

1917 



®l)e ComntontDealtb of ittasBachuBcttB 

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 






THE FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN 
IN BOSTON 



AN INVESTIGATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH 
WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION, BOSTON 

LUCILE EAVES, Ph.D., Director 
JN CO-OPERATION WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 




BOSTON 

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS 

32 DERNE STREET 

1917 



.W7W6 



Publication of this Document 

approved by the 
Supervisor of Administration. 



D. Of D. 

JAN 2?. 1913 



«\*'^ 

r\N 



1 



PEEFAOE 



This investigation of the food of working women in Boston was 
suggested by Dean Sarah Louise Arnold of Simmons College, who 
was serving as chairman of a committee appointed by the Mas- 
sachusetts Conference of Charities and Corrections to consider ways 
of assisting women employed in Boston and living away from their 
families. Several previous investigations had supplied information 
about lodging, but there were no available data which would show 
whether such women were obtaining nourishing food at a price 
adapted to their incomes. The State Department of Health, in con- 
ference, expressed an appreciation of the social significance of the 
subject, and accepted the co-operation of the Research Department 
of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, and were willing 
to assist in placing the results of such a study before the public. 

It seemed peculiarly appropriate that the Women's Educational 
and Industrial Union should undertake such an investigation, be- 
cause the topic is intimately related to its past heritage and present 
activities. Several of the pioneer enterprises of Mrs. Ellen H. 
Richards, which established Boston's claims to leadership in the 
efforts to promote the practical applications of dietary knowledge, 
are now being carried on by the Union. The most notable of these 
are the New England Kitchen, which was established in 1890 for the 
purpose of demonstrating methods of supplying attractive and 
nutritious food at moderate prices, and the luncheons for high 
schools which were started in 1894 as the first American effort to 
deal in a scientific way with the nourishment of school children. 

It is evident that the information sought in this investigation is 
of fundamental importance in the formation of plans for the realiza- 
tion of the aims of the Union, namely, the promotion of the best 
practical methods for securing the educational, industrial and social 
advancement of women. In pursuance of these aims there has been 
much co-operation in public health activities and in efforts to secure 
legislation beneficial to working women. However, social obligations 
for the protection of the health of the future mothers of the race do 



4 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

not end with the enactment and enforcement of laws preventing 
excessive hours of labor, and securing healthful places of work and 
suitable sanitary conveniences. Add to these the payment of an 
adequate wage and about all which society may fairly demand of the 
employer has been attained. The prevention of abuses must be 
supplemented by the more difficult task of educating the worker to 
a personal hygiene comparable to the sanitary conditions which the 
law exacts from her employer, and an expenditure of the wage which 
will insure the greatest possible strength and efficiency. 

No argument is needed to prove the fundamental importance of 
the topics about which we have sought information. It is obvious 
that labor power is directly dependent on nutrition, and that the 
chief factor entering into the minimum wage, which society may en- 
force on the employer, is the cost of food. The increase in the num- 
ber of women who are working outside the home demands careful 
attention to problems connected with the maintenance of their 
vitality in order that industry may not draw too heavily on those 
reserves of energy necessary for racial continuance and development. 

The economic world deals with these working women as individual 
units, hence it seems suitable to use this unit in studying their 
standards of living. The family has usually been the unit in previous 
investigations. While the minimum wage commissions have reported 
on the cost of living of women in different localities, their reports 
have not segregated the cost of food from expenditures for lodging, 
clothing and other items. It seems probable that the large cities of 
the United States afford the best opportunities for this study of the 
living conditions of individual working women because the unusual 
independence of American women, which has been fostered by social 
conditions promoting their safety, has increased their tendency to 
live outside of family groups. 

An investigation entering previously unexplored territory meets 
with the difficulties which are characteristic of pioneer enterprises. 
Records for which there has been little previous demand are rarely 
kept with care or accuracy. The choice of food has been left largely 
to instinct or chance, and the public has not been educated to an 
appreciation of the value of both personal and institutional account- 
ing in such matters. In the absence of reliable records we were 
forced to limit the scope of the study to the short period that could 
be covered by our investigators, or, in the case of institutions, to 



PREFACE. 

resort to estimates which are not entirely reliable. In every case we 
have indicated the sources of our information so that readers may 
judge of its value. 

The work of our Research Department combines co-operation with 
individual responsibility. Miss Louise Moore, the assistant director, 
has been in immediate charge of the field work, and also has pre- 
pared the chapter on "The Food of Women living away from their 
Families." While there has been considerable co-operation in the 
field work, the three Fellows have devoted their attention chiefly to 
the topics about which they expected to write. The chapter on " The 
Noon Luncheon" was prepared by Miss May R. Lane; that on "The 
Food of Women living in Organized Houses" by Miss Ora M. 
Harnish; and the one dealing with "The Food of Certain Dispen- 
sary Patients" by Miss Irene G. Farnham. Miss Lela Brown and 
Miss Miriam Segel of Simmons College, Miss Helen R. Hibbard of 
Wellesley College and Miss Esther M. Flint of Radcliffe College gave 
some assistance in the field work. The Boston Simmons Club also 
interested itself in obtaining individual schedules. Miss Margaret 
Sander, the secretary of the Research Department, rendered valuable 
assistance in the tabulation of data and preparation of tables. As 
these studies constitute a part of the training in social-economic in- 
vestigation given in the Research Department of the Women's Educa- 
tional and Industrial Union, the director has been responsible for 
planning, supervising and editing the work, and also has prepared the 
first and last chapters of the report. We are indebted to the officials 
of the Carnegie Nutrition Laboratory for permission to make use of 
the books and bibliographies collected in their library. 

LUCILE EAVES, 

Director of the Research Department, 
Women's Educational and Industrial Union. 
Boston, Jan. 15, 1917. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface, ............. 3-5 

List of Tables, ........... 9-12 

Chapter I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. 
By LuciLE Eaves. 
Scope of study. Statistics of women wage earners in eight largest cities. Cost 
of food in Boston. Variations in retail prices of food in different cities. 
Principal food articles in an average menu. Retail prices of groceries re- 
quired in average menu, ......... 13-19 

Chapter II. — THE NOON LUNCHEON. 
By May R. Lane. 

Method and scope of the investigation. Methods of obtaining and serving noon 
lunches. Factors determining the bringing of lunches. Relation of wages 
to kind of lunch. Reasons given for purchasing lunches. Reasons given for 
bringing lunches from home. Relation of length of noon hour to kind of 
lunch. Character of employment in relation to kind of lunch. Use made of 
spare time after lunch by women in factories, offices and department stores. 
Nationality of workers in relation to kind of lunch. Cooking facilities pro- 
vided for factory workers. Kinds of food brought from home. The box 
lunch and fruit vender. Lunches purchased by factory workers. Lunches 
of women in department stores. Comparison of quality and prices of food 
in restaurants and employees' cafeterias. Variety of food in lunches of 
department store workers. Types of employees' cafeterias. Equipment of 
lunch, rest and recreation rooms for employees. Patronage, prices and ex- 
penses of employees' cafeterias, ........ 20-64 

Chapter III. — THE FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR 

FAMILIES. 

By Louise Moore. 
Living arrangements of women workers. Occupations, age and birthplace of a 
group of women "adrift." Expenditure for food. Effect of residence on 
expenditure for food and rent. Average weekly expenditure for living ex- 
penses. Light housekeeping arrangements. Co-operative plans. Expendi- 
tures of women receiving low wages. Variety of food in weekly menus. 
Dietary habits of women studied. Specimen menus. Relation of wage to 
food expenditure, ........... 65-100 

Chapter IV. — THE FOOD OF WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 
By Ora M. Harnish. 
Types of homes for working women. Occupations and earnings of women living 
in organized houses. Purpose and management of houses in Boston. Cost 
and varieUf of food served. Adequacy of food supplied. Cost of providing 
food. Equipment and methods of serving. Factors influencing the utiliza- 
tion of these houses, .......... 101-125 



8 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter V. — FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 
By Irene G. Farnham. 
Classification of women dispensary patients by age, nativity, occupation and 
marital condition. Characteristics of patients studied. Wages, occupa- 
tions and dispensary diagnoses. Kinds of food eaten during one week. 
Proportion of protein, carbohydrate and mineral containing foods in weekly 
diet. Food of patients suffering from specified disorders. Specimen menus. 
Preparation and service of food. Economic status of families of patients. 
Living conditions in relation to health of patients. Relation of industry to 
health. Hours of work reported by patients. Uses made of leisure time. 



126-160 



Chapter VI. — COMPARATIVE SUMMARIES 

SUGGESTIONS. 



AND CONSTRUCTIVE 



By LuciLE Eaves. 
Minimum lunch facilities for factories. Organization of employees' lunch rooms. 
Living plans of lone women. Growing patronage of restaurants. Light 
housekeeping, its advantages and disadvantages. Choice of food by women 
of different wage groups. Co-operative housekeeping. Modifications in the 
policies of the organized boarding houses. Food in relation to the health 
and efficiency of working women, ........ 



161-184 



APPENDICES. 

A. — Forms of Inquiry used in this Investigation, . 

B. — List of Firms having an Employees' Cafeteria, 

C. — Methods of calculating the Variety of Food, . 

D. — Bibliography, ...... 



Index, 



. 187-193 
. 194, 195 
. 196-198 
. 199-202 



205-213 



LIST OF TABLES. 



Table page 

1. Number and Per Cent, of Females Fourteen Years of Age and over engaged in 

Gainful Occupations in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States, classified 

by Age Groups. Based on the United States Census of 1910, ... 14 

2. Number and Per Cent, of Females engaged in Gainful Occupations in the Eight 

Largest Cities in the United States who are not receiving Food as Part of their 
Wages, classified by Age Groups. Based on the United States Census of 1910, 15 

3. Number and Per Cent, of Females Ten Years of Age and over in Gainful Occu- 

pations in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States, classified by Color, 
Nativity and Parentage. Based on the United States Census of 1910, . . 16 

4. Index Numbers showing Variations in Retail Prices of the Principal Articles of 

Food in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States on June 15, 1915. 
Prices in Boston used as the Base, . . . . . . . .17 

5. Retail Prices in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States of Groceries re- 

quired to furnish an Average Menu for a Working Woman for Twenty-eight 
Days 19 

6. Methods by which the Women and Girls interviewed obtained their Noon 

Lunches, distributed by Kinds of Employment, ...... 21 

7. Places where Noon Luncheon was eaten by Women and Girls engaged in Manu- 

facturing and Mercantile Pursuits and in Office Work in Boston City Proper, 22 

8. Amount and Kind of Wage and Length of Noon Hour of Women and Girls in 

Factories and Factory Offices who brought Lunches from Home or bought 
them in Town 26 

9. Reasons for buying Lunches in Town given by Women and Girls in Factories and 

Factory Offices, classified according to Wages and Length of Noon Hour, . 27 

10. Reasons for bringing Lunches from Home given by Women and Girls in Fac- 

tories and Factory Offices, classified according to Wages and Length of the 
Noon Hour 28 

11. Classification of Women and Girls employed in the Principal Factory District 

of Boston according to Occupation and the Length of the Lunch Period, . 30 

12. Use of Spare Time after Luncheon by Women and Girls in Factories and Fac- 

tory Offices, distributed according to Kind of Employment, . . .31 

13. Use of Spare Time after Luncheon by Women and Girls in Department Stores 

of Boston City Proper, . . . . . . . . . .31 

14. Women and Girls in Factories, Factory Offices and Department Stores, classi-- 

fied according to Method of obtaining the Noon Luncheon, Parentage and 
Nativity, 33 

15. Extent of Use of Cooking Facilities by Women and Girls working in Factories 

and Factory Offices, .......... 36 

16. Number of Times the Kinds of Foods appear in Lunch Menus of Women and 

Girls of English and Non-English Speaking Parentage working in Factories 
and Factory Offices who brought Lunches from Home, . . . 38, 39 

17. Choice of Meat and Fish as Sandwich Fillings by Women and Girls of English 

and Non-English Speaking Parentage working in Factories and Factory 
Offices who brought Lunches from Home, ...... 41 

18. Commercial Restaurants patronized by Women and Girls working in Factories 

and Factory Offices, classified according to Frequency of Buying, and Prices 
actually paid for Menus in Week of Interview, ...... 43 



10 LIST OF TABLES. 

Table page 

19. Number of Times the Kinds of Food appear in the Lunch Menus of Women and 

Girls working in Factories and Factory Offices who bought Lunches in Com- 
mercial Restaurants, .......... 46 

20. Reasons assigned by Women and Girls working in Department Stores in Boston •• 

for buying Lunches in Employees' Cafeterias rather than bringing them from 
Home, 48 

21. Kinds of Food and Prices at which they are offered in Eight Commercial Res- 

taurants patronized by Women and Girls working in Boston, as compared 
with Prices at which they are offered in Thirteen Employees' Cafeterias in 
Ten Cities, 51, 52 

22. Number of Times the Kinds of Food appear in Lunch Menus of Women and 

Girls in Department Stores, classified according to Method of obtaining Food, 55 

23. Percentage and Frequency of bringing, buying and supplementing Lunches by 

Women and Girls working in Seven Department Stores of Boston who ate in 
Employees' Lunch Rooms, ......... 56 

24. Number of Times Certain Foods appear in Lunch Menus of Women and Girls 

in Department Stores who brought Lunches from Home and supplemented 
them by Food purchased in Employees' Cafeterias, ..... 57 

25. Patronage, Predominant Price paid for Lunches, Cost of Food and Labor per 

Week, and Approximate Expenditure per Week in Employees' Cafeterias in 
Twenty-five Factories, Stores and Offices in Sixteen Cities, . . . .61 

26. Living Arrangements of Women Sixteen Years of Age and over engaged in Gain- 

ful Occupations in the Eight Largest Cities in the United States, . . 66 

27. Living Arrangements of Women engaged in DifTerent Industries in Massachu- 

setts, ............. 67 

28. Occupations of Two Hundred and Sixty-one Women living Adrift in Boston, . 69 

29. Age and Birthplace of Two Hundred and Sixty-one Working Women living 

away from their Families, ......... 70 

30. Number of Women living away from their Families expending Specified Amounts 

for Food, by Wage Groups, ......... 74 

31. Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their 

Families spent for Food, by Wage Groups, ...... 75 

32. Number of Women living away from their Families expending Specified Amounts 

for Food and Rent, by Places of Residence, ...... 77 

33. Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their 

Families spent for Rent, by Wage Groups, ...... 77 

34. Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their 

Families spent for Food and Lodging, by Wage Groups, . . . .78 

35. Average Weekly Expenditures for Food and Lodging of Women living in New 

York City and in Ohio, by Wage Groups, ....... 79 

36. Number of Women living away from their Families expending Specified Amounts 

for Food, Rent and Laundry, by Wage Groups, ..... 82 

37. Average Weekly Wage and Average Weekly Expenditure for Food, classified by 

Plans of Living of Women away from their Families, ..... 83 

38. Frequency of Use in One Week of Tea and Coffee by Two Hundred and Sixty- 

one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, . . .91 

39. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of Two Hundred and 
Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, . . 92 

40. Frequency of Use in One Week of Protein Foods and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of Two Hundred and 
Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, . . 94 

41. Frequency of Use in One Week of Carbohydrate Foods and the Proportions 

which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of Two Hundred 

and Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, . 95 



LIST OF TABLES. 11 

Table page 

42. Frequency of Use in One Week of Foods containing Minerals and the Propor- 

tions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of Two Hun- 
dred and Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, 98 

43. Capacity of the Different Types of Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity, 

and the Number of Occupants at the Time of the Investigation, . . . 103 

44. Occupations of Women living in Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity, . 104 

45. The Proportion of Women Sixteen Years of Age and over in Selected Occupa- 

tions in Boston, living away from their Families in 1900 and in 1910, . . 105 

46. Weekly Earnings of Eight Hundred and Eighteen Women living in Seven Sub- 

sidized Houses, ........... 105 

47. The Purpose and Management of Eighteen Organized Houses offering Accom- 

modations to Working Women in Boston and Vicinity, . . . 107, 108 

48. The Cost and Variety of Food served in Twenty Organized Houses in Boston 

and Vicinity, 110-112 

49. Amount of Protein and Value of Calories of Food furnished by Eight Organized 

Houses in Boston and Vicinity. Based on Supplies used during One Week, . 115 

50. Metabolism of Women engaged in Different Occupations, . . . .116 

51. Source of Proteins consumed per Person per Day in Eight Organized Houses in 

Boston and Vicinity. Based on Supplies used during One Week, . . .118 

52. Patients coming to Eight Dispensaries in Boston, classified by Number of New 

Patients and Total Number of Visits from All Patients in One Year, . . 126 

53. New Patients classified by Age and Sex. Data from Four Dispensaries, . . 127 

54. Women Sixteen Years of Age and over, classified by Participation in Gainful 

Occupations. Data from Four Dispensaries, ...... 129 

55. Female Dispensary Patients in Gainful Occupations, classified by Nativity and 

Age. Data from Four Dispensaries, ....... 130 

56. Female Dispensary Patients in Gainful Occupations, classified by Occupation 

and Marital Condition. Data from Four Dispensaries, .... 131 

57. Female Dispensary Patients in Gainful Occupations, classified by Dispensary 

Departments and by Occupations. Data from Four Dispensaries, . . 133 

58. Distribution by Age and Nativity of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary 

Patients, 134 

59. Distribution by Occupation and Wage of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dis- 

pensary Patients, . . . . . . . . . . .134 

60. Occupations and Dispensary Diagnoses of One Hundred and Twenty-six Patients, 135 

61. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ........ 136 

62. Frequency of Use in One Week of Protein Foods, and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ........ 137 

63. Frequency of Use in One Week of Carbohydrate Foods, and the Proportions 

which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred 

and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ....... 139 

64. Frequency of Use in One Week of Foods containing Minerals, and Proportions 

which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
TM'enty-six Dispensary Patients, ........ 141 

65. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, by Nativity of Parents, .... 142 

66. Frequency *of Use in One Week of Protein Foods, and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, by Nativity of Parents, .... 144 

67. Frequency of Use in One Week of Carbohydrate Foods, and the Proportions 

which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, by Nativity of Parents, .... 145 



12 LIST OF TABLES. 

Table page 

68. Frequency of Use in One Week of Foods containing Minerals, and the Propor- 

tions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, by Nativities of Parents, . . 147 

69. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients suffering from Constipation and Other 
Disorders, ....... ..... 148 

70. Frequency of Use in One Week of Protein Foods, and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients suffering from Constipation and Other 
Disorders, ............ 150 

71. Frequency of Use in One Week of Carbohydrate Foods, and the Proportions 

which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients suffering from Constipation and Other 
Disorders, ............ 150 

72. Frequency of Use in One Week of Foods containing Minerals, and the Propor- 

tions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients suffering from Constipation and 
Other Disorders, ........... 151 

73. Economic Status of the Families of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary 

Patients, ............ 155 

74. Weekly Hours of Work in Different Occupations reported by One Hundred 

and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ....... 158 

75. Uses made of Leisure Time by One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, 159 

76. Distribution by Height and Weight of Wage-earning Women registered in 

the Young Women's Christian Association Gymnasium Classes and of 
Wellesley College Students 183 

77. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which 

they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and 
Twenty-six Dispensary Patients from whom Twenty-one Meal and Six Meal 
Schedules were obtained, . . . . . . . . . 197 



THE FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN 
IN BOSTON. 



CHAPTER I. 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. 

This study of how working women are supplied with their daily 
bread was made in a community where the competition is more 
severe and the cost of food greater than in any other of the large 
cities of the United States. It deals with the cost and variety of 
food supplied under conditions varying from those of the hall bedroom 
with one gas burner to those of a large boarding house where 800 
women are served in one dining room. It shows what women select 
for themselves, what their employers supply for them, and what is 
provided for them by benevolent societies organized for the purpose 
of furnishing wholesome living conditions at a minimum cost. 

The subjects discussed are factors of vital importance in the lives 
of half the women living in the largest cities of this country, since 
it is evident from the accompanying table that such a proportion of 
the women are at work during their minorities if not during their 
adult lives. The strain of the effort to earn their own support comes 
at an age when there is peculiar need that they be well nourished in 
order that they may meet the unusual physical demands of the 
passage from childhood to womanhood. In 5 of the 8 largest cities 
over half of the young girls are at work, and the percentages in the 
remaining 3 approach this proportion, while the total for these 
centers of our American civilization is 53 per cent. It is difficult to 
exaggerate the social significance of these facts. 

Boston falls below the average of the 8 cities in the proportion 
of her young women who are at work, but the high percentage of 
adult women dependent on their own exertions raises the total 
in gainful occupations above that of the other cities. One-third (32.5 
per cent.) of the women fourteen years of age and over in the 8 
largest cities are wage earners, but this percentage is not evenly 
distributed, as Pittsburg and Cleveland have 27 per cent. (Pittsburg 
27.2 per cent., Cleveland 27.6 per cent.), while Boston has 10 per 



14 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



cent, more (37.2 per cent.). The 4 cities having the highest pro- 
portion of adult women workers also have an excess of females in the 
population, while the remaining 4 cities have more males than 
females. However, it seems probable that this surplus of women is 

Table 1. — Number and Per Cent, of Females Fourteen Years of Age and Over 
engaged in Gainful Occupations in the Eight Largest Cities of the United 
States, classified by Age Groups. Based on the United States Census of 1910. ^ 





Total Females 14 


Females 14 Y 


F.ARS 


Females 21 Y 


EARS 




Years and 


VER. 


ANE 


Under 


21. 


AND Over 




Cities. 




IN GAINFUL 




IN GAINFUL 




IN GAINFUL 


In 
Popula- 


OCCUPATIONS. 


In 
Popula- 


OCCUPATIONS. 


In 
Popula- 


OCCUPATIONS. 


















tion. 


Num- 


Per 


tion. 


Num- 


Per 


tion. 


Num- 


Per 






ber. 


Cent. 




ber. 


Cent. 




ber. 


Cent. 


The 8 cities, . 


4,242,847 


1,379,734 


32.5 


805,016 


427,836 


53.1 


3,437,831 


951,898 


27.7 


Boston, 


259,063 


96,283 


37.2 


41,175 


20,302 


49.3 


217,888 


75,981 


34.9 


Baltimore, . 


219,816 


77,445 


35.3 


40.690 


20,979 


51.6 


179,126 


56,466 


31.5 


Philadelphia, 


593,017 


199,993 


33.7 


104,125 


58,686 


56.4 


488,892 


141,307 


28.9 


New York, . 


1,743,986 


585,571 


33.6 


342,946 


188,319 


54.9 


1,401,040 


397,252 


28.4 


Chicago, 


779,702 


236,615 


30.4 


153,073 


81,133 


53.0 


626.629 


155,482 


24.8 


St. Louis, . 


261,468 


77,510 


29.6 


48,832 


23,407 


47.9 


212,636 


54,103 


25.4 


Cleveland, . 


196,577 


54,742 


27.8 


37,667 


19,312 


51.3 


158.910 


35,430 


22.3 


Pittsburg, 


189,218 


51,575 


27.2 


36,508 


15,698 


43.0 


152,710 


35,877 


23.5 



' The population of these 8 cities is 12.5 per cent, of the total population and 27.1 per cent, of the urban 
population of the United States. 

not the chief factor in promoting the tendency for Boston women 
to become self-supporting, since both Baltimore and Philadelphia 
have a greater excess of females in the population. 

Three-fourths (75.6 per cent.) of the women who are at work use 
a large portion of their earnings to purchase food, while the remain- 
ing fourth receive food as a part of their wages. The younger 

imen who usually are members of family groups show a greater 

idency to work for a money compensation, while as high as 29 per 
cent, of the adult women hold positions where food is supplied by 
their employers. Boston has the highest pe;rcentage of youthful 
workers who are earning a money wage, but the large number of 
adult women who are domestic servants, boarding and lodging- 
house keepers and nurses lowers the proportion of those receiving no 
food as a part of their compensation below the average for the 8 
largest cities. 

The American standard of living is frequently given a conspicuous 
place in the discussion of subjects like those considered in this study, 
yet less than one-fourth of the working women found in the 8 largest 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. 



15 



cities, and but little over one-fifth of those living in Boston, are 
native-born whites of native-born parents. In Boston, New York, 
Chicago and Cleveland about three-fourths of the women in gainful 
occupations are of foreign or mixed parentage. These women with 
family traditions and habits brought from foreign lands suffer from 
the double strain of industrial and dietary readjustment. Too little 

Table 2. — Nimiber and Per Cent, of Females engaged in Gainful Occupations 
in the Eight Largest Cities in the United States who are not receiving Food 
as Part of their Wages, classified by Age Groups. ^ Based on the United 
States Census of 1910. 





ToTAi, Females 14 


Females 14 Years 


Females 21 Years 




Years and Over. 


ANI 


Under 


21. 


AND Over. 






NOT RECEIVING 




NOT receiving 




NOT receiving 


Cities. 


In Gain- 


FOOD AS 


In Gain- 


food as 




FOOD AS 




ful 
Occupa- 




ful 
Occupa- 


PART OF 


WAGE. 


ful 
Occupa- 


PART OF WAGE. 


















tions. 


Num- 


Per 


tions. 


Num- 


Per 


tions. 


Num- 


Per 






ber. 


Cent. 




,ber. 


Cent. 




ber. 


Cent. 


The S cities, . 


1,379,734 


1,042,921 


75.6 


427,836 


365,356 


85.4 


951,898 


677,565 


71.0 


Boston, 


96,283 


70,362 


73.1 


20,302 


17,945 


88.4 


75,981 


52,417 


69.0 


Baltimore, . 


77,445 


57,287 


74.0 


20,979 


17,061 


81.3 


56,466 


40,226 


71.2 


Philadelphia, 


199,993 


149,378 


74.7 


58,686 


51,683 


88. 1 


141, .307 


97,695 


69.1 


New York, . 


58.5,571 


440.910 


75.2 


188,319 


159,760 


84.8 


397,252 


281,150 


70.8 


Chicago, 


236,615 


187,615 


79.3 


81,133 


71,240 


87.8 


155,482 


116,375 


74.8 


St. Louis, 


77,510 


58,943 


76.0 


23,407 


19,660 


84.0 


54,103 


39,283 


72.6 


Cleveland, . 


54,742 


43,189 


78.9 


19,312 


16,439 


85.1 


35,430 


26,750 


75.5 


Pittsburg, 


51,575 


35,237 


68. 3 


15,698 


11,568 


73.7 


35,877 


23,669 


66.0 



1 This classification excludes servants, midwives and nurses (not trained), housekeepers and steward- 
esses, boarding and lodging-house keepers, and trained nurses. 

attention has been given to the difficulties that must arise when 
bodily needs created by the conditions of an Old World environment 
must be satisfied with supplies found in American markets. 

Cost of Food in Boston. 

A study of the retail prices collected by the Federal Bureau of 
Labor Statistics shows that the cost of food in Boston is from 3 to 
16 per cent, higher than in other large cities of the United States. 
An exhaustive investigation is needed to determine the complex 
factors entering into retail prices. At present no reasonable explana- 
tions can be offered for many of the variations shown in the table 
of index numbers (Table 4). 

The variations in the cost of a bill of groceries required to feed 
a working woman for four weeks show this same difference between 
Boston and the other large cities (Table 5). An average menu was 



16 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 






li^ 



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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. 



17 



Table 4. — Index Numbers showing Variations in Retail Prices of the Principal 
Articles of Food in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States on June 15, 
1915. Prices in Boston used as the Base.^ 





Cities. 


Commodities. 




o 


6 


a 


o 


15 


E? 

3 


•i 




o 


.s 


^ 


"3 


Jx 






2 




a 




O 


>• 


^ 










6 


"c3 


a 


« 


o 


s 


"S 


■*^ 




ffl 


n 


o 


O 


:?; 


cu 


PL, 


m 


Combined index numbers, .... 


100 


87 


91 


91 


97 


96 


94 


84 


Foods containing much protein: — 


















All proteins combined, .... 


100 


83 


89 


88 


92 


94 


93 


83 


Chuck roast, per pound, 




100 


91 


93 


97 


92 


101 


95 


92 


Rib roast, per pound, . 




100 


74 


85 


82 


91 


87 


85 


79 


Round steak, per pound, 




100 


67 


66 


68 


77 


79 


73 


74 


Sirloin steak, per pound. 




100 


72 


74 


73 


77 


86 


80 


75 


Ham, smoked, per pound, . 




100 


93 


113 


88 


88 


116 


121 


92 


Pork chops, per pound, 




100 


86 


88 


97 


101 


102 


96 


85 


Leg of lamb, per pound, 




100 


81 


88 


87 


72 


88 


92 


84 


Hens, per pound, . 




100 


83 


79 


85 


88 


94 


100 


75 


Salmon, per can, . 




100 


79 


111 


94 


109 


91 


94 


85 


Eggs, per dozen, . 




100 


70 


75 


83 


95 


85 


74 


66 


Cheese, American, per pound, 




100 


98 


97 


100 


96 


101 


97 


85 


Milk, per quart. 




100 


100 


91 


88 


102 


91 


105 


91 


Beans, per pound, 




100 


85 


96 


100 


112 


99 


98 


92 


Foods containing starch and similar carbo- 


















hydrates: — 


















Cereals combined, 


100 


86 


88 


90 


94 


87 


92 


84 


Corn meal, per pound, .... 


100 


69 


82 


83 


94 


76 


85 


74 


Flour, wheat, Js barrel bag, . 


100 


90 


85 


92 


94 


90 


94 


83 


Rice, per pound, 


100 


100 


97 


95 


94 


96 


97 


94 


Foods characterized by sugars: — 


















Sugars combined, 2 


100 


97 


102 


101 


101 


101 


103 


98 


Prunes, per pound, . . 


100 


97 


107 


106 


111 


106 


102 


104 


Raisins, per pound 


100 


98 


103 


92 


100 


100 


103 


93 


Sugar, granulated, per pound. 


100 


96 


95 


104 


93 


96 


104 


97 


Fatty foods: — 


















Fatty foods combined, .... 


100 


95 


102 


102 


98 


103 


103 


89 


Bacon, smoked, per pound, . 


100 


86 


113 


103 


97 


103 


112 


95 


Butter, per pound 


100 


107 


93 


99 


97 


112 


101 


94 


Lard, per pound, 


100 


93 


100 


103 


101 


95 


95 


79 


Foods containing mineral substances and 


















organic acids: — 


















Vegetables and fruits combined, 


100 


85 


87 


90 


109 


100 


89 


78 


Corn, per can 


100 


70 


78 


81 


99 


87 


71 


64 


Onions, yellow, per pound, . 


100 


86 


83 


87 


99 


85 


102 


67 


Oranges, per dozen , . . . . 


100 


83 


89 


91 


105 


94 


92 


83 


Peas, per can, 


100 


77 


85 


97 


104 


90 


SO 


74 


Potatoes, per peck, ^ . . . . 


100 


119 


93 


■93 


155 


157 


108 


103 


Tomatoes, per can, .... 


100 


77 


93 


91 


90 


89 


78 


75 


Beverages having no nutritive value: — 


















Beverages pombined, .... 


100 


86 


93 


84 


84 


97 


92 


86 


Coffee, per pound, .... 


100 


71 


90 


88 


86 


89 


82 


73 


Tea, per pound 


100 


100 


95 


79 


81 


104 


102 


99 



1 This table was prepared from data published in Bulletin No. 184 of the United States Bureau of Labor 
Statistics. The prices were collected from retail dealers selling largely to the famiUes of wage earners, the 
number of dealers reporting varying from 4 to 15. In preparing this table we obtained the arithmetic aver- 
age of the prices quoted on June 15, 1915, and then used the Boston prices as the base on which to calculate 
the percentages of variation in the other 7 cities. Between June, 1915, and March, 1917, there was a general 
advance in prices of 33 per cent. 

2 This rough classification of foods follows a plan suggested by C. F. Langworthy. (Scientific Monthly, 
II., p. 303, March, 1916.) Obviously many of the food items belong in several groups, as the various meats 
contain much fat, prunes and raisins are valuable for their mineral substances, potatoes contain carbo- 
hydrates and protein, and the cereals supply both proteins and mineral substances. 

3 These numbers were based on the first six months of 1915. 



18 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



obtained by tabulating the data given on 77 schedules which re- 
ported the food eaten by working women for the 21 meals of one 
week. The average number of times in which different food items 
appeared was as follows: — 



Meat, . 








8.3 


Fish, . 








2.1 


Eggs, . 








2.4 


Sandwiches, 








1.7 


Cereal, . 








3.7 


Bread, . 








15.2 


Soup, 








3.4 


Fruit, . 








8.2 


Vegetables, . 








14.4 



Cake, . 
Pastry, . 
Pudding, 
Salad, . 
Coffee, . 
Tea, . 
Cocoa, . 
Milk, . 



4.9 
2.3 
4.5 
1.9 
4.5 
3.5 
2.1 
1.7 



If a corresponding list of foods is selected from those whose prices 
are reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the different 
items are distributed in menus for one week, a bill of fare like the 
following will result: — 





Breakfast. 


Lunch. 


Supper.. 


Monday, 


Stewed prunes. 
Bacon and egg. 
Bread and butter. 
Coffee. 


Lamb stew (potatoes and onions). 
Cabinet pudding. 


Stewed onions. 
Bread and butter. 
Cold ham. 
Cake. 

Milk. 


Tuesday, 


Orange. 

Cornmeal mush. 
Coffee. 


Roast beef hash. 
Corn or peas. 
Bread and butter. 
Pie. 


Potatoes. 

Prunes. 

Cocoa. 

Bread and butter. 


Wednesday, . 


Orange. 

Rice. 

Tea. 


Country sausage. 
French-fried potatoes. 
Indian pudding. 
Bread and butter. 


Bread and butter. 
Canned corn. 
Rice pudding. 
Milk. 


Thursday, 


Orange. 

Egg. 

Bread and butter. 

Coffee. 


Cold ham. 
Bread and butter. 
Rice pudding. 


Beef stew (onions and potatoes). 

Cake. 

Tea. 


Friday, . 


Orange. 

Rice. 

Coffee. 


Beans. 

Bread and butter. 

Stewed tomatoes. 

Pie. 


Soup. 

Cheese. 1 
Potato salad. 
Bread and butter. 
Cake. 


Saturday, 


Orange. 

Egg. 

Bread and butter. 

Tea. 


Roast beef. 

Mashed potatoes. 

Cake. 

Bread and butter. 


Soup. 

Canned peas. 

Cheese, i 

Bread and butter. 

Cake. 


Sunday, . 


Orange. 

Cornmeal mush. 
Coffee. 


Soup. 

Creamed chicken on toast. 

Potatoes. 

Peas. 

Rice pudding. 

Bread and butter. 


Bread and butter. 
Cocoa. 
Potato salad. 
Chicken sandwich. 



' As prices for fish are not quoted in the Labor Bureau bulletins reporting retail prices, cheese appears 
twice in place of fish which occurs in the schedules. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. 



19 



Table 5. — Retail Prices in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States of 
Groceries required to furnish an Average Menu for a Working Woman for 
Tiveyity-eight Days. 









Cities. 


Commodities. ' 




£ 




■a 


.^ 


.2 

IS 

0. 


M 






s 








"3 





13 

1 


3 


'5 






♦- 


_c 


> 


^ 




.2 









"« 


!S 


Oj 





'£ 


.■^ 


^ 




pa 


m 


U 





Z 


P- 


ei, 


tn 


Total cost, 


$7 77 


$6 84 


S6 93 


$7 02 


«7 50 


$7 54 


$7 32 


S6 44 


Proteins combined, 






3 25 


2 74 


2 86 


2 79 


2 99 


3 05 


3 10 


2 63 


Rib roast, 2 pounds, 






49 


37 


42 


40 


45 


43 


42 


39 


Ham, smoked, 2 pounds. 






49 


45 


• 55 


43 


43 


57 


59 


45 


Leg of lamb, 1 pound, 






27 


22 


23 


23 


19 


23 


25 


22 


Hens, 2 pounds. 






50 


41 


39 


42 


44 


47 


50 


37 


Eggs, 2 dozen, . 






66 


46 


49 


54 


63 


56 


49 


44 


Cheese, 1 pound. 






24 


24 


23 


24 


23 


24 


23 


21 


Milk, 6 quarts, . 






53 


53 


48 


46 


54 


48 


55 


48 


Beans, 1 pound, 






07 


06 


07 


07 


08 


07 


. 07 


07 


Starches combined. 






74 


66 


64 


67 


70 


66 


70 


62 


Corn meal, 2 pounds. 






07 


05 


06 


06 


07 


06 


06 


05 


Flour, wheat, 12J'4 pounds, 






57 


51 


49 


52 


54 


51 


54 


48 


Rice, 1 pound, . 






10 


10 


09 


09 


09 


09 


10 


09 


Sugars combined, 






53 


51 


54 


56 


54 


54 


54 


53 


Prunes, 2 pounds. 






26 


25 


28 


28 


29 


28 


26 


27 


Sugar, 4 pounds. 






27 


26 


26 


28 


25 


26 


28 


26 


Fatty foods combined, 






1 14 


1 20 


1 07 


1 13 


1 11 


1 26 


1 14 


1 06 


Butter, 3 pounds. 






1 06 


1 13 


99 


1 05 


1 03 


1 19 


1 07 


1 00 


Lard, Vo pound. 






08 


07 


08 


08 


08 


07 


07 


06 


Vegetables and fruits combined. 






1 87 


1 54 


1 63 


1 67 


1 96 


1 81 


1 63 


1 41 


Corn, 2 cans. 






28 


20 


22 


23 


28 


25 


20 


18 


Onions, 3 pounds, 






13 


11 


11 


11 


13 


11 


13 


09 


Oranges, 2 dozen, 2 . 






75 


60 


66 


66 


76 


68 


68 


56 


Peas, 2 cans, 






28 


22 


24 


28 


29 


26 


23 


21 


Potatoes, 1 peck,' 






18 


22 


17 


17 


28 


29 


20 


19 


Tomatoes, 2 cans. 






25 


19 


23 


22 


22 


22 


19 


18 


Beverages combined, . 






24 


19 


22 


20 


20 


22 


21 


19 


Coffee, J4 pound. 






17 


12 


15 


15 


14 


15 


14 


12 


Tea, H pound, . 






07 


07 


07 


05 


06 


07 


07 


07 





1 This bill of groceries will furnish a little over 2,500 calories per day. The prices are averages of those 
quoted in Bulletin No. 184, United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March, 1917, prices were 33 
per cent, higher than those used in computing this table. 

2 The average prices of California and Florida oranges were used. 
' Numbers based on first six months of 1915. 



A woman living alone would find if difficult to prepare such a bill 
of fare, as she would be unable to bake bread, cake and pastry. She 
could not make an economical use of canned vegetables, meat stews 
or roasts. The women who furnished the schedules usually pur- 
chased one or more meals each day at restaurants or boarding 
houses, and in some cases prepared breakfasts and suppers in their 
rooms. When obtained in these ways their food for one week cost 
them about $3.65. However, the prices of raw materials are im- 
portant factors in determining all charges for food, and no doubt 
their higher cost in Boston makes it more difficult for working 
women to obtain adequate nourishment. 



20 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE NOON LUNCHEON. 

Method and Scope of the Investigation.^ 

The first step taken in a survey of the noon luncheon in Boston 
was to compile from the registers and directories of 1915 a card 
catalogue of business firms, listing the names and addresses of firms 
engaged in industries in ^Yhich, according to the Federal Occupation 
Census of 1910, women in Boston are principally employed. By the 
co-operation of the Massachusetts Board of Labor and Industries the 
addresses of establishments employing 10 or more w^omen and girls 
were obtained from lists prepared by the factory inspectors. There 
are 381 of these larger establishments with a total of 22,563 women 
and girls employed in the city proper, which is bounded in the main 
by Atlantic Avenue, Dover, Berkeley and Charles streets. It was 
manifestly impossible to include in a noon luncheon survey all of 
these 381 firms, since the method of investigation permitted the 
visiting at the noon hour of but one firm a day, and the time of the 
survey was confined to the winter months, December to March. It 
was decided, therefore, to limit the survey to a study of conditions 
in the principal factory district and in the shopping or mercantile 
districts. 

The 702 women and girls interviewed in these factory and mer- 
cantile districts of Boston city proper include 462 in manufacturing 
pursuits, 137 in mercantile pursuits and 103 in office work. The 
factory district in which the intensive part of the study was made is 
represented by 521 schedules, or 26 per cent, of the women and girls 
employed in its 52 factories and factory offices. In the mercantile 
district 7 of the largest department stores which have employees' 
lunch rooms were visited, and 181 schedules were secured from the 
women and girls therein employed. Although this number of inter- 
views is small in proportion to the total number of employees in these 
stores, at least 25 schedules were obtained at random from each 
place. For purposes of comparison with the factory schedules they 

' For forms of inquiry, see Appendix A, Noa. 2 and 3. 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



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22 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



afford a true picture of the luncheon resources and of the Hfe of the 
employees at the noon hour. Comparison of the living arrangements 
of this group and of those in retail stores made by the Minimum 
Wage Commission^ shows them to be a typical group. One-half (50 
per cent.) of the factory women were sewing on women's wearing 
apparel, one-sixth (17..3 per cent.) on men's clothing, and one-tenth 
(11.5 per cent.) on hats and millinery. One hundred and forty-five 
women were employed in 4 of the factory offices. 

Table 7. — Places where Noon Luncheons were eaten by Women and Girls en- 
gaged in Manufacturing and Mercantile Pursuits and in Office Work in 
Boston City Proper. 



Places of eating Lunch. 



All the places, 

Commercial lunch rooms, . 

Employees' cafeterias, . 

Employees' dining rooms, . 

Employees' dressing rooms, 

Dining tables in workrooms. 

Power sewing machines. 

Work tables or desks in workrooms 

or offices. 
Home, 

No lunch, .... 



Total. 



Num. 
ber. 



702 

127 

153 

25 

9 

47 

186 

130 

24 

1 



Per 
Cent. 



100.0 

18.1 

21.8 

3.6 

1.3 

6.7 

26.5 

18.5 

3.4 

.1 



Women and Gikls engaged in — 



MANUFACTUR- 
ING PURSUITS. 



Num- 
ber. 



462 

74 

16 

1 

47 
177 
126 

20 
1 



Per 

Cent. 



100.0 

16.0 
3.5 

.2 

10.2 

38.3 

27.3 

4.3 

.2 



MERCANTILE 
PURSUITS. 



Num- 
ber. 



137 

16 

110 

9 



Per 
Cent. 



100.0 

11.7 

80.3 

6.6 



1.4 



OFFICE WORK. 



Num- 
ber. 



103 

37 

27 

15 

9 

9 
4 



Per 
Cent. 



100.0 

35.9 
26.2 
14.6 
8.7 

8.7 
3.9 
2.0 



The method followed throughout the study was to secure a per- 
sonal interview with the manager or employer; obtain permission 
to talk with employees while at their lunch; secure individual 
schedules from the women and girls at that time; and personally 
inspect the accommodations provided for eating and resting at the 
noon hour. Commercial lunch rooms of the cafeteria or counter- 
service type which were patronized by those workers who were buy- 
ing lunches in town were visited, their managers interviewed and 
their equipment observed and scheduled. A similar study was made 

1 Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission, Wages of Women in Retail Stores in Massachusetts, 
Bulletin No. 6, March, 1915, p. 45. 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 23 

of the employees' cafeterias of the large department stores, and 
individual schedules were secured from women in a variety of mer- 
cantile establishments. By means of a questionnaire, information 
was obtained from 33 firms in cities other than Boston. 

Methods of obtaining and serving Noon Lunches. 

The majority of factory workers brought their lunches from home, 
while the mercantile and office employees showed a greater disposi- 
tion to buy lunches. Of the 702 women and girls interviewed, 420 
brought lunches from home, 257 bought them in town, 24 went home 
at noon for dinner and 1 ate no luncheon. Eighty (80.3) per cent, 
of those engaged in manufacturing (Table 6) brought their lunches 
five or six days a week, and only 20 (19.7) per cent, bought lunches 
in town. These percentages were reversed (18.5 and 81.5) for 
women in mercantile pursuits. Sixty (59.4) per cent, of the factory 
and department store ofiice women bought lunches in town, and 40 
(40.6) per cent, brought lunches from home.^ 

When the power was shut down at 12 o'clock two-thirds (65.6 
per cent.) of the factory women remained at their places of work. 
They spread their lunches on the machines or tables at which they 
had been stitching garments, sewing hats or furs, ironing, pressing, 
drafting, cutting or packing goods. Their food often came in con- 
tact with the goods being manufactured, or else with the tops of the 
machines and tables. In some places machine oil, dust, chalk, lint 
and trimmings of cloth were present, and where fur garments were 
being made or repaired there was danger of contact with particles of 
arsenic used in the preservation of the pelts. Three of the 52 firms 
had work tables cleared and covered with wrapping paper or oil 
cloth. 

The large department stores of Boston have made generous pro- 
visions for feeding their employees, hence the high percentage (80.3) 
of mercantile workers who patronize these cafeterias. Only 1 of the 
factories made this provision, and but 3.5 per cent, of the factory 
workers were able to obtain hot food at cost. A partial luncheon 
service was found in 1 department store and 1 factory, where com- 
fortable rooms with tables and gas or electric stoves were provided. 

1 These percentages are conservative for those who bring and maximum for those who buy, since only 
those who brought lunches for the entire week were counted as bringers of lunches. Women who had not 
purchased lunches within the week, but who said they sometimes went out to lunch, were counted as 
occasional buyers. 



24 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

Matrons in charge kept these rooms clean and attractive. The 
employees prepared such hot dishes as they wished, using their own 
suppUes. In 1 factory lunches were eaten in the coat or dressing 
room. Factory office workers usually patronized the commercial 
lunch rooms. 

Factors determining the Bringing of Lunches. 

Several factors determine the bringing of lunches. The most 
important of these are : — 

1. The amount and kind of wages. 

2. The length of the noon hour. 

3. The character of the employment. 

4. The nationality of the worker and of her parents. 

Amount and Kind of Wages. 

The wages of a woman factory worker rarely permit the purchase 
of a warm noon meal. Half of the women engaged in manufacturing 
(47.9 per cent.) reported their earnings for the previous week as less 
than S<S, a fourth (23.8 per cent.) received $8 to $9, and three-fourths 
(72.2 per cent.) less than $9. Irregularity of employment makes the 
situation worse when earnings are distributed through the year. A 
pay-roll study made in 1915 by the United States Bureau of Labor 
Statistics ^ showed that of 708 women employed in 5 representative 
ready-to-wear dress and waist factories in Boston, 75.6 per cent, 
earned on an average less than $8, as compared with 47.9 per cent, 
in the present study, and that 83.4 per cent, earned less than $9 
instead of 72.2 per cent, as reported for the one week covered in this 
investigation. Results similar to the Federal study were obtained 
in an investigation of 30 garment-making establishments located in 
7 cities of the State, made by the Massachusetts Minimum Wage 
Commission in 1915. '^ The largest number of workers received $5 
as an average wage instead of $8 as in the present surve}'. 

A further study of the wages of the factory women shows that the 
piece workers, who were subject to a greater physical strain than 
those paid on a time-rate basis, were usually found in the lowest 

' Regularity of Employment in tlie Women's Ready-to-Wear Garment Industries, United States 
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, October, 1915, Bulletin No. 183, pp. 07, 125. 

* Wages of Women in Clothing Factories in Massachusetts, Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commis- 
sion, September, 1915, Bulletin No. 9, pp. 23, 24. 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 25 

wage groups. They were operating power-stitehing and addressing 
machines, and were engaged in the semi-skilled processes of manu- 
facturing, such as folding, ironing, pressing, pasting, labeling, packing, 
making bows and running ribbons, examining, stock checking and 
distributing. Only 26 stitchers and sewers and 4 of these semi- 
skilled workers earned more than $8 per week.^ Evidently the 
women in manufacturing processes who are spending the most energy 
in the more exhausting kinds of employment are the ones who are 
least able to purchase lunches. Ninety-seven (97.3) per cent, of 
these low-wage piece workers ate cold lunches brought from home. 

The majority of the women engaged in the occupations demanding 
less physical exertion were earning wages which permitted the occa- 
sional or regular purchase of a hot noon meal. Designers, fore- 
women and others in responsible positions, together with the factory 
office workers, reported $8 to S18 per week. The women employed 
in the department stores and the general office workers also were 
usually found in this higher wage group. The minimum wage in 
retail stores was fixed in 1915 at $8.50.^ The managers of all the 
large department stores in Boston voluntarily agreed to establish 
this wage, so that approximately 11,000 of the women who are en- 
gaged in salesmanship in these stores are financially able to purchase 
lunches if they wish to do so. A study ^ of the wages of women 
in general oflBce work made in 1914 by the Women's Educational 
and Industrial Union showed that for these workers also the situa- 
tion is far better than it is for factory workers; the largest number 
were found in the $12 wage group, and 83.5 per cent, of them earned 
more than $8. Only 20 of the 111 women who bought lunches 
earned less than $S, and 3 of these were time workers at $7 a week. 

While the necessity for economy was an important if not the chief 
reason which led so large a portion of the low-wage group to bring 
lunches from home, only a fifth (20.9 per cent.) of those inter- 
viewed gave this reason. Over a third (37.1 per cent.) of them 
said they disliked restaurant food or preferred home cooking (Table 
10). However, the higher wage group, who were frequent patrons 

1 The Brush Makers' Wage Board of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission reported in 1914 
as follows: "Allowing for variations between individuals, the wage board is convinced that the sum 
required to keep alive and in health a completely self-supporting woman in Boston is in no case less than 
J8, and in many cases may rise to $9 or more." Second Annual Report, Massachusetts Minimum Wage 
Commission, p. 9. 

2 Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission Bulletin No. 12, p. 11. 

' AUinson, May. The Public Schools and Women in Office Service, Women's Educational and In- 
dustrial Union (Boston, 1914), pp. 113, 114. 



26 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 









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THE NOON LUNCHEON. 29 

of cafeterias and restaurants, said they bought the noon meal be- 
cause they disHked cold, dry lunches, or preferred hot food, or found 
it inconvenient to pack a lunch (Table 9). 

Length of the Noon Hour. 

The third (33.6 per cent.) of the women whose low wages pre- 
vented the purchase of lunches were also the workers who were al- 
lowed the shortest noon intervals. "There's no time to go," one 
worker said, "and I always spend 25 cents which I cannot afford." 
Thirty minutes, the minimum legal requirement,^ was reported by 
30.8 per cent, of the semi-skilled workers and by 36.1 per cent, of 
the machine stitchers (Table 11). "I would like to go, and used 
to often when I had an hour in another factory," said one of these 
women. A number of managers claimed that the workers chose the 
short noon period in order that they might have Saturday after- 
noon free, but it is hardly justifiable to claim that the time gained 
was needed for work, when a recent survey ' has shown that most 
of these women were employed on an average of 38 to 49 hours a 
week, and that only 5 out of 446 employees in the Massachusetts 
clothing industry averaged as many as fifty-four hours per week. 

Only 16 who bought lunches have the short period at noon (Table 
9). The schedules of 8 of these show that they sent an office mes- 
senger boy to commercial restaurants before 12 o'clock to purchase 
the noon meal which they ate in the factory. By clubbing together 
they found that they could have greater variety at less expense. 
Eight who had thirty minutes left the building, but only 1, a time 
worker who reported SIO a week for wages, bought lunch regularly. 
Three of the 8 patronized a restaurant across the street from the 
factory, and 5 walked to restaurants less than three blocks away. 

The factory office and saleswomen usually had a 60-minute noon 
hour (Table 11), as did also the 181 women interviewed in the de- 
partment stores. These were more fortunate than those engaged in 
the low-wage manufacturing processes in that they had opportunities 
for rest and relaxation. The full noon hour is the custom with 
women in office positions and salesmanship, and they have never 
been asked to sacrifice any of their noon time, even when they have 

1 General Acts of Massachusetts, 1909, chapter 514, section 68. 

^ Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission, Wages of Women in Women's Clothing Factories in 
Massachusetts, Bulletin No. 9, September, 1915, p. 29. 



30 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



been given the half day off on Saturday. The reduction of the 
legal hours of employment to an eight-hour day, or else an exten- 
sion of the legal requirement for the noon period to sixty minutes, 
is necessary in order to restore the noon hour of the factory workers 
to its traditional length. 

Character of Employment. 

The character of the work performed, as well as the wages and 
the length of the noon hour, influences the leaving of the building 
at noon either for food or exercise. Manufacturing processes require 
or permit the wearing of work clothes or aprons, and it takes "too 
much time" or is "too much trouble" to doff them for street gar- 
ments, especially if there is but thirty minutes for lunch. Nine per 

Table 11. — Classification of Women and Girls employed in the Principal 
Factory District of Boston according to Occupation and the Length of the Lunch 
Period. 









Women and Girls having for Noon Hour — 


Kinds of Emplotment. 


Total. 


THIRTY 
MINUTES. 


FORTY-FIVE 
MINUTES. 


SIXTY 

MINUTES. 




Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


All occupations, .... 

Manufacturing pursuits, 

Stitchers and other power ma- 
chine operators. 
Hand sewers and finishers. 

Other semi-skilled workers, 

Designers, cutters, managers, 
etc. 
Factory saleswomen, . 

Office work 


521 

447 
277 
89 
65 
16 
3 
71 


100.0 

100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 


134 

133 

100 

10 

20 

3 

1 


25.7 

29.7 
36.1 
11.3 
30.8 

18.8 

1.4 


Ill 

95 
56 
16 
16 

7 

16 


21.3 

21.3 
20.2 
17.9 
24.6 
43.7 

22.5 


276 

219 

121 

63 

29 

6 

3 

54 


53.0 

49.0 
43.7 
70.8 
44.6 
37.5 
100.0 
76.1 



cent, more stitchers and hand sewers never leave than workers in the 
semi-skilled processes, and 12 per cent, more piece workers than 
time workers. "We have to plow right in and make what we can, 
and I'd rather rest than go out," said one of the workers. Taken 
together, more than 50 (51.2) per cent, of those in manufacturing 
processes never leave the building, whereas oflBce women, sales- 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



31 



Table 12. — Use of Spare Time after Luncheon by Women and Girls in Fac- 
tories and Factory Offices, distributed according to Kind of Evx'ployynent. 



Uses of Spare Time. 


Total 
Women. 


Power- 
machine 
Operators. 


Sewers and 

Semi-skilled 

Workers. 


Drafters, 
Managers, 

Sales 

AND Office 

Women. 




Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


All uses, 


521 


100.0 


277 


53.1 


154 


29.6 


90 


17.3 


Talking with others, 


122 


100.0 


68 


55.8 


44 


36.0 


10 


8.2 


Reading newspapers, magazines 

and books. 
Resting at tables or machines, 


46 
16 


100.0 
100.0 


29 
12 


63.0 
75.0 


16 
4 


34.8 
25.0 


1 


2.2 


Sewing, embroidering and cro- 
cheting. 
Working, 


19 
39 


100.0 
100.0 


12 

24 


63.2 
61.5 


6 
13 


31.6 
33.3 


1 
2 


5.2 
5.2 


Walking for air and exercise, 


56 


100.0 


17 


30.3 


18 


32.1 


21 


37.6 


Doing errands or shopping. 


40 


100.0 


18 


45.0 


13 


32.5 


9 


22.5 


Dancing and singing, . 


15 


100.0 


3 


20.0 


7 


46.7 


5 


33.3 


No time to spare, 


116 


100.0 


75 


64.7 


13 


11.2 


28 


24.1 


Other uses 


10 


100.0 


3 


30.0 


5 


50.0 


2 


20.0 


Not reported 


42 


100.0 


16 


38.1 


15 


35.7 


11 


26.2 



Table 13. — Use of Spare Time after Luncheon by Woinen and Girls in 
Department Stores of Boston City Proper. 



Uses of Spare Time in Department Stores. 



Number. 



Per Cent. 



All uses, 

Walking 

Errands or shopping, 

Dancing or singing, 

Reading newspapers. 

Talking with others, 

Resting, ..... 

Sewing, embroidering, crocheting. 

No spare time, 

Not reported, .... 



181 



100.0 



62 


34.3 


21 


11.6 


4 


2.2 


37 


20.4 


30 


16.6 


13 


7.2 


5 


2.8 


3 


1.6 


6 


3.3 



32 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

women and those in responsible positions reported that they usually 
left the building at noon. 

The quieter ways of spending spare time reported by the ma- 
chine stitchers showed their need of this period of relaxation. Rest- 
ing at tables or machines, reading newspapers, sewing for them- 
selves, embroidering, crocheting and conversing were the uses of 
spare time reported by them (Table 12). Stitchers, who are usually 
piece workers, are tempted to use spare time at noon for work; of 
the 39 who reported this use of time 29 were power-machine 
stitchers. Sewers and semi-skilled workers avail themselves about 
equally of the restful and active recreations, and those in responsible 
positions and office work go out regularly for exercise or lunch or 
shopping, or else dance and sing if they remain in the factory. One 
hundred and sixteen, or more than 22.3 per cent, of the factory 
women, had no spare time after luncheon, and all of these either 
had thirty minutes for the noon hour or used the longer period to go 
home to dinner. 

Without exception all the women interviewed in the department 
stores had a full hour at noon, and the use made of spare time after 
eating luncheon depended very much upon the amount of space 
devoted to the comfort and accommodation of the employees and 
upon the adequacy of its equipment. Often the women sat reading 
or chatting at the lunch tables, but this could not be done if the 
room was small, for successive relays of employees made it necessary 
for those who came first to depart promptly. One store had a lunch 
room large enough so that the employees could remain at the tables 
if they wished, and there was also room at one end for groups to 
dance, play the piano and sing. Five of the department stores had 
rest or recreation rooms in addition to the lunch rooms. Thirty-six 
per cent, of the women reported that they never left the building at 
noon, and as many more (37.5 per cent.) only went occasionally. 

Half of the women (47 per cent.) occupied themselves with the 
quieter recreations, such as reading newspapers, talking with friends, 
resting, sewing, embroidering or crocheting, and half (48.1 per cent.) 
went for walks, did errands or shopping, or danced and sang in the 
recreation rooms (Table 13). Most of the women named two uses 
of spare time, and these secondary uses are slightly in favor of the 
restful recreations. No one used her spare time in working as was 
done by a number (39) of the women in the factories. Those who 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



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34 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

work in department stores in Boston are receiving the legal wage, 
and an employee cannot increase her weekly wages by working at 
noon. 

Nationality. 

Nationality, as well as wages and the length of the noon hour, was 
a factor in determining the method of obtaining the noon luncheon. 
In some cases there were preferences for certain kinds of bread, 
fish, meats or vegetables characteristic of national diets, and in 
others the diet was restricted by religious requirements. In both 
factories and department stores there were well-marked' differences 
between the native born and the foreign born and those of English 
speaking and non-English speaking parentage. 

The native born show a greater disposition to purchase their 
lunches; 66, or 28.9 per cent., of those working in factories, and 125, 
or 82.2 per cent., of those in department stores provided the noon 
meal in this way (Table 14). Evidently the native born rarely live 
near their places of employment, as only 4 of the factory workers 
and 1 department store worker went home at noon. Of the native 
born group the factory workers of English-speaking parentage show 
10 (9.9) per cent, more buying lunches than the factory workers of 
non-English speaking parentage. A somewhat surprising variation 
is found in the case of the small group of department store workers 
of non-English speaking parentage; 91.3 per cent, of these buy 
lunches as compared with 80.6 per cent, of those of English-speaking 
parentage. 

The women of foreign birth of non-English speaking parentage 
usually brought their lunches or went home at noon. This was 
true of nearly 90 per cent, of the foreign born factory workers, as 
137, or 78.2 per cent., brought lunch, and 19, or 10.9 per cent., went 
home. The foreign born factory workers of English speaking par- 
entage buy lunches more frequently than do those of non-English 
speaking parentage. Certain restaurants in the factory district were 
patronized by 16.3 per cent, of Jews, and all of them were patronized 
by women of English speaking parentage, but none of the Italians, 
Swedes, Germans, Austrians, French, Greeks, Roumanians, Portu- 
guese, Spanish or Bohemians patronized the restaurants, and nearly 
all the workers of Syrian birth and parentage lived in the South 
End near enough to go home to dinner. 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 35 

Two explanations may account for these differences between the 
native and foreign born and the EngUsh and non-English speaking 
groups. Foreign women show a greater tendency to fall into the 
low-wage, short noon hour groups, and were found among the 
factory piece workers rather than office and store workers. It seems 
probable, also, that their greater timidity or conservatism would 
prevent their going to public eating places. This last factor would 
not be present in the case of the few department store workers 
who could buy lunches at the employees' cafeteria. 

In summing up the factors determining the bringing or buying of 
lunches we find : — 

1. That the low- wage piece workers usually bring lunches from 
home, while the higher-wage office and department store workers 
are more apt to buy their lunches. 

2. The short intermission at noon among the factory workers 
makes it impossible to go out to buy a lunch, and prevents proper rest 
and recreation. 

3. Piece workers and power-machine operators seldom or never 
leave the factory at noon either for food or exercise, and are re- 
luctant to make the change from work to street clothing. 

4. Foreign born women and those of non-English speaking parent- 
age show a greater disposition to bring lunches, while the native born 
and those of English speaking parentage buy luncheon when the 
wage and length of noon hour permit. 

Provisions for Heating or Supplementing the Lunches of 

Factory Workers. 

When the power is switched off at 12 o'clock the women who go 
out to lunch hasten their departure, and the remainder bring forth 
their lunches from coat rooms or hand bags. Seated alone or in 
groups of three or four the workers set out their teapots, tumblers or 
cups, lunch wrappings, food and fruit, holding them in the lap or 
placing them on the work tables or machines. 

The food of the 445 women who regularly or frequently brought 
lunches from home was put up chiefly in wrapping paper, waxed 
paper or paper bags. Paper and linen napkins were little used. The 
tin dinner pail and the black or plaid tin box are out of date. Office 
workers used more of the waxed paper than did those in manu- 



36 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



factiiring pursuits. The lunch as carried to-day is a paper-wrapped 
parcel similar to a shopping bundle. It can be disposed of entirely, 
and it avoids identif^'ing the carrier as a wage earner. Half of these 
women (50 per cent.) reported putting up their own lunches, mothers 
put them up for a third (35.6 per cent.), aunts, sisters and other 
relatives put them up for 10 (10.5) per cent., and landladies for the 
remainder. 

The extensive use of such cooking facilities as were provided proves 
that the women factory workers craved hot food. The proportion 
who prepared hot dishes varied with the adequacy of the cooking 
arrangements (Table 15). A gas range with a four-burner top and an 
oven, and two double-burner gas plates w^ere found in one factory 
where 190 women were employed. Twenty-three women who ate 
lunches in this factory were interviewed, and 22 of these reported 
that they prepared tea or cocoa, cooked soups and vegetables and 
baked potatoes or apples. In two other firms that had two gas 
plates of three burners each, or one burner for each 11 employees, 
the facilities were used by more than 90 (91.4) per cent, of the 



Table 15. — Extent of Use of Cooking Facilities by Women and Girls working 
in Factories and Factory Offices. 









Total 

Factory 

Schedules 

obtained. 


Women 


WHO BROUGHT LuNCHES. 


Cooking Facilities. 


Estab- 
lish- 
ments. 


Em- 
ploy- 
ees. 


Num- 
ber. 


Not 
using 
Facili- 
ties. 


USING 
FACILITIES. 




Num- 
ber. 


Per 

Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


Total, 


49 


1,782 


521 


100.0 


445 


233 


212 


47.6 


Stoves (gas or electric): — 


















1 plate, 


15 


438 


146 


28.0 


118 


84 


34 


28.8 


2 plates, 


6 


137 


55 


10.6 


42 


22 


20 


47.6 


3 plates, 


6 


364 


75 


14.4 


63 


19 


44 


69.8 


4 plates 


3 


161 


36 


6.9 


35 


5 


30 


85.7 


6 plates, 




131 


35 


6.7 


35 


3 


32 


91.4 


Range (4-plate top and oven, also 

two 2-plate stoves). 
Stove and oven (detachable). 




190 
10 


24 

6 


4.6 
1,1 


23 
6 


1 

2 


22 
4 


95.7 
66.7 


Iron heaters (40 separate), . 




66 


26 


5.0 


26 


6 


20 


76.9 


Toaster and teakettle, . 




20 


10 


2.0 


9 


3 


6 


66.7 


No facilities, .... 


13 


265 


108 


20.7 


88 


88 


- 


- 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 37 

workers. In addition to tea and soups, eggs, toast, cheese and 
creamed dishes were prepared. Various kinds of facihties were 
found in other factories and factory offices. In addition to gas stoves 
in the workroom, one had a hotwater tank, another a copper cauklron, 
anotlier an aluminum kettle, and another an electric toaster and 
kettle. ]\Iost of the apparatus, however, was makeshift in character, 
and one-fifth (20.7 per cent.) of the women interviewed had no 
facilities whatever for heating water or warming over food. 

Co-operative preparation of lunches was a method used in one of 
the factories where the number of employees was small. The fore- 
lady or some enterprising member of the group conferred with the 
others late in the forenoon as to what they should have for luncheon. 
The office boy was then sent to a near-by restaurant or grocery, the 
supplies were purchased, and when all was ready the group sat down 
at a table and ate the luncheon. In still another factory a kind of 
kitchenette was formed by the arrangement of the sink, stove and 
shelves. The manager purchased tea, coffee, sugar and canned 
goods for the workers at wholesale rates. These schemes of co- 
operative buying and preparation of lunches greatly reduced the 
expense and increased the attractiveness and sociability of the 
luncheon. This method of securing a lunch was possible wherever 
the cooking facilities were adequate, and where economic competi- 
tion and social dift'erences between the racial elements was not too 
keenly felt. In a number of places small groups of three or four 
women prepared tea, coffee or cocoa, or shared the expense of. some 
special treat. 

Kinds of Food brought from Home. 

The influence of nationality is seen in the choice of the 33 kinds 
of food observed or reported in the lunch menus of the women in 
factories and factory offices. When it was possible to secure them, 
the menus of the day on which the interview occurred and of the 
day before were obtained. The group of 387 women who brought 
lunches five or six days of the week, and of 58 who brought them 
occasionally, reported 712 menus with 2,582 food items (Table 16). 
The characteristic number of food items for each menu was 4, 
averaging 3.5 for women of English speaking parentage and 3.7 for 
women of non-English speaking parentage. The typical lunch con- 
sisted of sandwiches, cake, fruit and tea. There is very little differ- 



38 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



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THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



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40 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

ence in the variety chosen by these groups as a whole, and for those 
nationahties which did not bring certain kinds of food the number 
of schedules and of menus was too small to conclude that they do 
not eat them. Women of American and of Jewish parentage re- 
ported the largest variety of foods. 

The protein diet for all women consisted chiefly of meat, fish, 
eggs and cheese, used in sandwiches and supplemented often by 
plain bread and butter. Meats were brought more by women of 
English speaking parentage, and fish, eggs and cheese by women of 
non-English speaking parentage. National diet was most noticeable, 
however, in the kinds of bread, of meats and of fish, of vegetables 
and of fruit reported in the menus. Women of English speaking 
parentage brought chiefly white bread, but others brought rye or 
graham, sliced, or in loaves to be cut off when eaten, or thin like 
large pancakes and broken into portions convenient to handle. A 
large number of the menus of the Irish, Scotch, Jews and Italians 
include plain bread and butter. Ham and roast beef were the most 
popular meats for sandwiches with women of all nationalities except 
the Russian and Polish Jews, who preferred corned beef and chicken. 
Chicken is the third choice for all except the Hebrews and the 
Irish, who chose lamb oftener, and the Germans, who preferred 
Frankfurters (Table 17). Fish used in sandwiches were chiefly the 
small, dry or salt varieties, or else kinds that are easily minced. 
Salmon was the most popular, herring next and sardines third. The 
Jews and Italians are the chief eaters of this form of protein diet. 
Eggs were reported oftenest in the menus of women of Irish, Jewish 
and American descent, and cheese was used chiefly by Canadians, 
Italians, Jews and Americans, its frequency being in the order 
named. 

Vegetables are most palatable when hot, and since it was not 
always, convenient to warm over food in the factories, and since this 
kind of food must be brought in jars or tumblers thereby increasing 
the size and weight of the lunch bundle, they do not appear so 
conspicuously in the menus of women who ate lunches in the factory 
as they do in those purchased in the commercial restaurants and em- 
ployees' cafeterias. Potatoes were brought oftenest by Americans 
and baked beans by Americans and Irish. Peppers and onions were 
most popular with Italians, 15.9 per cent, of whose food items were 
these vegetables as compared with 4.4 per cent, of the vegetable 
food of women of English speaking parentage. 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



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42 FOOD OF WOEKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

Women of all nationalities ate cake, pie, oranges and apples for 
dessert, except that the Italians and South Europeans did not bring 
pie. Cake was reported oftenest by Canadians, Germans, Americans 
and Irish, and the kinds named were chiefly plain, fruit and mocha. 
The most popular kinds of pie were apple and mince. Fruit forms 
32.9 per cent, of the food items of women of non-English speaking 
parentage, as compared with 18 per cent, of those of English speak- 
ing parentage, but fruit also is mentioned often by American and 
Irish women. The quickest and easiest hot beverage to prepare was 
tea. It was reported oftener than coffee, cocoa and milk together by 
women of English speaking parentage, but coffee and milk were also 
used considerably by Jewish women. The Swedish women were the 
only ones who did not report tea and coffee, but the number of their 
schedules was too small to justify the statement that they never use 
them. 

The Box Lunch and Fruit Venders. 

Boston has two firms which make a business of putting up box 
lunches and delivering them in the various places of business for a 
small sum. One of these companies has an automobile for delivery, 
but the boxes are also sold on commission by messengers, janitors, 
office boys or watchmen. A number of combinations are put up, 
varying in price from 10 to 25 cents, and consisting of two or three 
sandwiches, cake, pie and fruit, which are wrapped in waxed paper 
and packed in a light cardboard box. With this possibility of secur- 
ing a lunch at a low cost it might be supposed that the women who 
wprk in factories could easily obtain food in an emergency, but those 
who had tried the box lunches commented thus: "They do it up all 
right, but it doesn't taste good." "I bought one once, but never 
again." "It looks all right, but we can't eat it." In nearly every 
factory inquiry was made as to whether such lunches were pur- 
chased, and invariably women were not advocates of the "box 
lunch." Certain kinds of food, even if fresh, cannot be confined 
without developing a strong odor and, as one girl remarked, it was 
"factory food and not home cooking." It is also true that most 
people prefer to choose the dift'erent items of their lunch instead of 
having a "foreordained" combination. 

A dift'erent kind of a commercial effort to cater to the lunch needs 
of factory women is made by the Italian fruit venders. They come 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



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44 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

to town, chiefly from Somerville and Lynn, early in the morning, 
with their large hampers. They have no stores, but stock up at the 
markets, and from 10 to 1 o'clock go quickly on regular routes 
through a number of buildings in which they are given the sole right 
to sell fruit, chocolate bars, nuts and gum. One vender when ques- 
tioned said that he had been in the country five years, and "that 
his profits averaged $2.50 to S3 a day. INIost of the managers en- 
couraged these venders to come in, and they were reported by the 
women to be very generally patronized. Two or three managers, 
however, did not permit them to sell in the factory workroom, for 
they feared the workers would be tempted to depend upon such 
purchases for an entire lunch. Another said that the prices of the 
fruit were too high. "It is cheaper to buy at a fruit store where 
you can get 2 oranges, bananas or apples for 5 cents, but of course 
sometimes one forgets to buy or has other bundles." Not many 
women ate chocolate bars and candies with their noon lunches, and 
most of them seemed to bring their own fruit. Nevertheless, fruit 
vending is a resource in an emergency, and as such is to be com- 
mended. 

The Luncheon purchased by Factory Workers in Commercial 

Restaurants. 

Although the home supplied the lunches of most of the women in 
factories and factory offices, the commercial restaurant was a lunch- 
eon resource for a small group of workers who purchased their 
lunches in town. Of the 521 factory women interviewed, 53 pur- 
chased their lunches every day, and 5S more bought them frequently 
or occasionally (Table IS). These buyers of lunches were chiefly 
oflice women in the higher wage group, who had forty-five or sixty 
minutes at noon (Table 11). A fourth of them (25.9 per cent.) gave 
as a reason for buying rather than bringing lunches the inconven- 
ience of putting up a lunch at home. Nearly a third of them (29.9 
per cent.) said they were only occasional buyers because of the cost 
of the commercial lunches or because of the shortness of the noon 
hour (Table 9). The restaurant lunch appeared to be more attrac- 
tive than the home lunch in that it offered hot food and a change of 
diet instead of a cold, dry lunch. 

The restaurants patronized by these women were chiefly of the 
counter or cafeteria type of service. Nine of them were located in 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 45 

the immediate factory district, or very near, and a string of stores 
are maintained by the most popular ones. The health department of 
the city which inspects the 1,500 or more restaurants rates Restau- 
rants A, B, C and D as superior in methods and equipment to some 
first-class hotels. Restaurant A (Table IS) had the most attractive 
equipment and cafeteria service. Restaurants B and C had counter 
service, and D had table service. Restaurant C was the one most 
often praised for the flavor of its food, and was regularly patronized 
by the largest percentage of the buyers of lunches (14.4 per cent.). 

The variety of foods reported in the menus purchased at the com- 
mercial restaurants was greater by 7 items than in the lunches 
brought from home, and the list of vegetables and desserts was 
longer. The average menu, however, had 3 (2.6) items instead of 
4 (3.6), as the home menus had (Tables 16 and 19), but the meal was 
probably as nourishing and certainly hotter than the home lunch, 
even though the buyer did not eat as many portions or kinds of food. 
The most popular items were meat, potatoes and pie. Hot dishes 
took the place of the sandwiches of the home lunch, and fish was 
reported oftener but bread was reported in about the same propor- 
tion. Pie and coffee in the restaurant lunch surpassed cake and tea 
in popularity. 

The amount spent for luncheon was chiefly 25 cents, 45.3 per cent, 
of the buyers giving this as the price actually paid for a luncheon 
the items of which were also reported (Table 18). In Restaurant A, 
where there was cafeteria service, lunches were the least expensive, 
and were purchased at 15 and 20 cents, but in Restaurants B and C, 
20 and 25 cents were the prices' quoted, and attendance was more 
regular in these two because the food was liked. The prices at which 
the kinds of food were offered in the bills of fare of 8 of the restau- 
rants patronized by the women interviewed (Table 21) are interest- 
ing in connection with the make-up of the typical menu and the 
predominant price paid for it, — 3 food items at 25 cents. The 
beverage and dessert, reported oftenest, were 5 cents each, and the 
remaining 15 cents was spent for a hot dish or a hot dish and vege- 
table. Sandwiches at 5 and 10 cents each were offered frequently 
and fruit occasionally, but women did not buy them, though both 
were characteristic of the luncheon brought from home. All the 
restaurants oftered combinations of food at special prices. One of 
them offered daily 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 35 cent specials, also a num- 



46 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



ber of salad, meat and vegetable combinations for a quarter, a lunch 
special of a sandwich, cake, ice cream and coffee for a quarter, and 
a dessert special of ice cream, cake and beverage for 15 cents. The 
best combination for a quarter was offered at the most popular 
restaurant, and consisted of meat, potato, a vegetable and any 5- 
cent dessert. A vegetable dinner was offered here also for a quarter. 

Table 19. — Number of Times the Kinds of Food appear in the Lunch Menus 
of Women and Girls working in Factories and Factory Offices, who bought 
Limches in Commercial Restaurants. 







Total Times. 


Kinds of Food. 


Total Times. 


Kinds of Food. 












Num- 


Per 




Num- 


Per 




ber. 


Cent. 




ber. 


Cent. 


All foods, 


3071 


100.0 


Desserts, 


60 


19.5 








Cake, 


14 


- 








Pie, 


20 


- 


Soup, 


26 


8.4 


Ice cream, .... 


2 


- 








Doughnuts, .... 


3 


- 


Hot dishes, 


45 


14.7 


Coffee jelly, .... 


4 


- 


Meat, 


26 


- 


Puddings, .... 


7 


- 


Spaghetti or macaroni. 


2 


- 


French pastry. 


4 


- 


Fish 


11 


- 


Apple dumplings. 


3 


- 


Eggs, 


1 


- 


Eclairs, 


3 


- 


Cheese and macaroni, 


5 


- 














Fruit, etc., 


10 


3.2 


Vegetables, 


50 


16.3 


Oranges, 


2 


- 


», Potatoes, 


25 


- 


Apples, 


1 


- 


Peas, 


1 


- 


Bananas, 


1 


- 


Corn, 


3 


- 


Preserves, .... 


1 


- 


Baked beans, .... 


1 


- 


Others 


5 


- 


Asparagus, .... 


4 


- 








Tomatoes, .... 


5 


- 


ReUshes, 


2 


.7 


Beans, 


2 


- 


, 






Succotash, .... 


2 


- 


Beverages, 


74 


24.1 


Cabbage, 


2 


- 


Tea, 


18 


- 


Others 


5 


- 


Coffee, 


49 


- 








Milk, 


3 


- 


Salads, 


2 


.7 


Cocoa, 


4 


- 


Bread and butter, 


3S 


12.4 


• 







' Number of schedules, 111; number of kinds of food, 37; average number of food items per menu, 2.6. 



Still another restaurant offered eggs cooked in many attractive 
combinations, and fruits, cereals, cheese and nuts were conspicuous 
on the bill of fare. 

The price paid for a luncheon in a commercial restaurant is beyond 
the means of the average factory worker. The definite sum of 15 
cents is firmly established in her mind as an allowance for the noon 
meal. If she has attended one of the high schools of the city she 
has been accustomed to pay 10 cents for a satisfactory lunch, and 
could have purchased a substantial meal for 15 cents, as a recent 
investigation of the school lunch system has shown. When, as a 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 47 

working girl, she contributes her pay envelope to the family income 
she receives back from her mother each day 25 cents for car fare and 
lunch. If her sister is a salesgirl in a Boston department store she 
probably buys her luncheon in an employees' cafeteria for 15 cents. 

Everywhere in the popular mind 15 cents is the standard allow- 
ance for luncheon for a working girl or woman. Since 1911 the cost 
of food and of other essentials of the standard of living has been 
investigated in 12 States as a basis for minimum wage legislation, 
and in 2 of these separate consideration was given to the lunch 
problem. Both in New York,^ where investigators called at the 
homes of the workers for information, and in Ohio,^ where the cost 
of luncheon was one of the expenditures entered by the women in 
account books, it was found that 15 cents was the amount most often 
quoted. Estimates of social workers in Boston^ have also placed 
the standard allowance at 15 cents. 

The results of the present investigation indicate that office workers 
and others in responsible positions who are earning as much as S8 a 
week on time work are the only ones who patronize the restaurants. 
They form but one-fifth of the entire group interviewed. For these 
the commercial restaurant is a convenient resource, but, like the box 
lunch and the fruit vending, it does not offer to four-fifths of the 
factory women a satisfactory solution of the problem of securing a 
luncheon in town when it is desirable or necessary for them to do so. 

The Luncheon of Women in Department Stores. 

The women in the department stores of Boston have a far more 
normal noon hour, and they are surrounded by more of the comforts 
and amenities of life than are the women working in factories and 
factory offices. Instead of eating in workrooms at tables or ma- 
chines, where their lunches are frequently in contact with the goods 
being manufactured, the saleswomen leave their counters and mer- 
chandise to spend an hour eating and resting in rooms provided for 
their use. All of the department stores of Boston city proper have 
lunch rooms for their employees, and in 7 of them food is sold on the 
cafeteria plan at cost or at very low prices. Four other department 

' Fourth Report of the New York State Factory Investigating Commission, 1915, Vol. IV., p. 512. 
2 Cost of Living of Working Women in Ohio, State Department of Investigation and Statistics, Report 
14, 1915. 

' Report of Massachusetts Commission on Minimum Wage Boards, January, 1912, p. 224. 



48 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



stores have rooms where lunches brought from home may be eaten, 
and one of them has cooking facihties for the use of the employees. 

The employees' cafeterias of the large department stores are 
located high up in the store buildings, where there is plenty of light 
and air. Most of the rooms have hardwood or linoleum floors, white 
or tinted walls, and curtains or shades at the windows. Usually the 
tables are bare, but white linen is used in one store, oilcloth covers 
in another and white vitrolite slabs in another. From 11 until 2 or 
3 o'clock groups of employees arrive at the lunch room by elevator. 

Table 20. — Reasons assigned by Women and Girls working in Department 
Stores in Boston for huying Lunches in Employees' Cafeterias rather than 
bringing them from Home. 





Total 
















Reasons. 


Women. 


Cafe- 
teria 
A. 


Cafe- 
teria 
B. 


Cafe- 
teria 
C. 


Cafe- 
teria 
D. 


Cafe- 
teria 
E. 


Cafe- 
teria 
F. 


Lunch 

Room 

G.i 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

Cent. 


All reasons, 


1452 


100.0 


25 


25 


26 


25 


223 


12 3 


103 


Inconvenience of putting up lunch, 


48 


33.1 


8 


12 


10 


7 


7 


- 


4 


Just as cheap to buy as to bring 

lunch. 
The quality of the food is good. 


27 
26 


18.6 
18.0 


6 

7 


3 
4 


3 
3 


4 
4 


5 

2 


3 
4 


3 

2 


Preference for variety and hot foods, 


17 


11.7 


2 


2 


4 


3 


4 


2 


- 


Lunch not included in board, . 


4 


2.8 


- 


- 


2 


1 


- 


1 


- 


Other reasons, .... 


3 


2.0 


- 


- 


2 


1 


- 


- 


- 


No reasons given, .... 


20 


13.8 


2 


4 


2 


5 


4 


2 


1 



' Food was not sold in this lunch room, but buyers purchased their lunches at a commercial lunch 
room within the store. 

2 One schedule omitted from this table was secured in a store not personally visited. 

' Twenty-five schedules from each store were secured, except 26 in C; the remainder of the 25 in E, F 
and G brought lunches from home. 



form a "bread line" in front of the food counter, and as they walk 
along, study the menu for the day, posted on the wall. With tray 
in hand they receive their orders promptly from the servers, pay the 
cashier as they leave the line, take silver, glasses and paper napkins, 
and seat themselves at the tables to eat and converse. 

The lunch rooms were used by all the employees, whether they 
brought their lunches from home or purchased them at the lunch- 
room cafeteria. Of the 25 or more women interviewed in each of the 
7 stores, 80 per cent. (Table 23) bought their lunches. Nearly 20 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 49 

(18.2) per cent, brought their entire kmcheon from home every day, 
but they were chiefly employed in 2 stores, in one of which there was 
no cafeteria equipment and in the other there were complaints of 
undercooked food. Only two women in the department stores went 
home to dinner. 

The reasons given for buying lunches in these employees' cafeterias 
rather than bringing them from home were chiefly tributes to the 
convenience of the lunch room and the quahty and inexpensiveness 
of the food. One-third (33.1 per cent.) of the group said that it 
took too much time and was too much trouble to put up a lunch in 
the morning. Nearly one-fifth (18.6 per cent.) said it was just 
about as cheap to buy a lunch at the cafeteria as it was to bring it, 
and about a third (29.7 per cent.) more said that the cafeteria food 
was good, and that they enjoyed having a change from the home 
diet, or that they liked something hot to eat and drink for luncheon 
(Table 20). 

These reasons agree with those given by factory women for buying 
lunches in the public restaurants as to the greater convenience of 
doing so (25.9 per cent.), and as to a preference for variety and hot 
food (Table 9), but they are in marked contrast to the reasons 
given by the factory women who brought lunches from home and 
ate them at work tables or machines. These said chiefly (27.8 per 
cent.) that they preferred home food, and that the commercial 
lunches were too expensive to buy (Table 10), whereas women who ate 
lunches at employees' cafeterias said they liked the food, and that it 
was just as cheap to buy a lunch as to bring one. Only 6 of the 181 
women in the stores said that it cost too much to buy a lunch at the 
cafeterias. 

Comparison of the Quality and Prices of Food in Restau- 
rants AND Employees' Cafeterias. 

The superior quality and the low prices of the food, according to 
the statements of the women themselves, were reasons for the dift'er- 
ence in patronage of the commercial restaurants and of the em- 
ployees' cafeterias. Managers of the cafeterias were well aware of 
the necessity of pleasing the workers with food of good quality. 
" They are like one big family, and they'd go somewhere else or bring 
all their lunch from home if they didn't like the food," said one man- 



50 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

ager. Another told how he secured canned vegetables by contract 
from the producer, and paid the highest prices for fresh vegetables, 
meat and fish, in order to be sure of getting the best quality. Then, 
too, the price paid for a satisfactory lunch in the cafeterias was but 
15 cents, whereas it was 25 cents in the restaurants. As has been 
shown, 15 cents is the price a working woman feels she can afford to 
pay for the noon meal. 

A comparison of the prices charged per serving in the restaurants 
with the prices charged in employees' cafeterias explains why it is 
that the women in the factories and factory oflBces paid 10 cents 
more when they purchased a luncheon than did women in the de- 
partment stores. Printed bills of fare were secured from 8 of the 
Boston restaurants patronized by the factory women, from 6 of the 
employees' cafeterias in Boston department stores, and by mail from 
7 cafeterias in stores, factories and oflBces in other cities. These 
21 restaurants and emploj^ees' cafeterias are located in 10 different 
cities, — Boston, Framingham, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, 
Rochester, Cleveland, Toledo, Buffalo and Indianapolis. Even 
amounts of money, as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 cents, etc., were charged for 
servings in commercial restaurants, but in the employees' cafeterias 
odd amounts, as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cents up to 10 and 11 cents, were 
charged. The range in prices (Table 21) in the restaurants was from 
5 to 35 cents, whereas in the cafeterias it was from 1 to 20 cents. 
The prices most often charged in the commercial restaurants were 
5, 10 and 15 cents, but those in the cafeterias were 3, 5 and 10 cents. 

The principal prices for the kinds of food group by group also 
vary considerably. Hot dishes and sandwiches are 10 and 15 cents 
in restaurants, while they are 5 cents in cafeterias. Vegetables are 
5 and 10 cents in restaurants, but only 3 and 5 in employees' cafe- 
terias. Salads are 10 to 30 cents in the former, but only 5 and 10 
cents in the latter. Bread and butter is 5 cents and 2 cents. Des- 
serts are 5 and 10 in one, whereas they are but 5 in the other. 
Beverages are 5 cents in restaurants and only 3 in cafeterias. Special 
combinations of food for a lunch range from 15 to 35 cents in the 
restaurants, but from 12 to 20 cents in the cafeterias. The protein 
foods are 10, 15, 25 and SO cents in restaurants, the one dish alone 
costing as much if not more than a working girl can afford to pay 
for her entire lunch. In cafeterias, however, salads alone of the 
protein group are as much as 10 cents, while for 15 cents a working 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



51 



Table 21. — Kinds of Food and Prices at which they are offered in Eight Com- 
mercial Restaurants patronized by Women and Girls working in Boston as 
compared with Prices at which they are offered in Thirteen Employees^ Cafe- 
terias in Ten Cities. 



Kinds of Food. 



Hot dishes: — 
Soup, 
Stew, . 
Chowder, 
Broth, . 
Meat, . 

Fish, ... 
Eggs, . 
Cheese and macaroni. 

Sandwiches: — 
Meat, 
Fish, . 
Salad roll, 
Cheese and olive. 
Egg, . 
Lettuce, 
Fruit and nut. 

Vegetables: — 
Potatoes, 
Baked beans, 
Peas, 
Corn, 
Others, . 

Salads: — 
Meat, . 
Fish, . 
Vegetable, 
Potato, . 
Eg?, 
Fruit, . 

Bread, rolls, etc.. 

Butter. . . . 

Toast or crackers, . 

Desserts: — 
Cake, . 
Pie, 

Ice cream. 
Sundaes, 
Douahnuts, . 
Jelly, . 
Pudding, 
Baked apple, 
Custards, 

Fruit: — 
Oranges, 
Bananas, 
Preserves, 

Relishes: — 
Pickles, 
Others, . 



Eight Commercial Res- 
taurants IN Boston. 



Predominant 

Prices charged 

per Serving 

(Cents). 



Lowest and 

Highest 

Prices charged 

per Serving 
(Cents). 



10 
20 
10 
10 
15 
10, 15, 20 
15,25 
10 



30 
30 
15 
10 
20 
15,20 



5,10 



5, 10 



5 

5 

10 

10 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5,10 



5-15 
5-25 
5-15 
10-15 
15-35 
10-30 
10-30 
10-15 



5-35 
5-30 
5-20 
5-15 
10-25 
5-15 
5-10 



5-10 
5-15 
5-10 
5-10 
5-10 



15-30 
15-30 
5-20 
5-20 
15-25 
10-25 

5-10 



5-15 



5 

5-10 

5-15 

10 

5 
5-10 
5-10 
5-15 
5-10 



Thirteen Employees' 
Cafeterias in 10 Cities. 



Predominant 

Prices charged 

per Serving 

(Cents). 



Lowest and 

Highest 

Prices charged 

per Serving 
(Cents). 



10 

10 
5,10 

10 
5,10 

10 

1 



4 
5 
5 
5 
1-2 
5 
5 
5 
5 



3 

2,3 

5 



2-10 
5-12 
3-12 

4-6 
4-20 
5-12 
5-12 

4-5 



5-8 
3-8 
5 
5 
5 
3-5 
5 



2-6 
3-6 
3-5 
3-5 
3 



5-20 
5-15 
4-10 
5-10 
5-10 
4-10 

1-5 



1-4 

4-5 
3-8 

5 
1-2 
3-6 
3-6 
3-5 

5 



3-5 
2-3 
3-5 



52 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



Table 21. — Kinds of Food and Prices at ivhich they are offered in Eight Com- 
mercial Restaurants patronized by Women and Girls working in Boston as 
compared with Prices at which they are offered in Thirteen Employees' Cafe- 
terias in Ten Cities — Con. 



Kinds of Food. 



Beveiaaes: — 
Tea," . 
Coffee, . 
Milk, . 
Cocoa, . 
Sodas, . 

Special combination, 

Box lunch. 



Eight Commercial Res- 
taurants IN Boston. 



Predominant 

Prices charged 

per Serving 

(Cents). 



Lowest and 

Highest 

Prices charged 

per Serving 
(Cents). 



5 
5 
5 
5 

5-10 

15-35 



Thirteen Employees' 
Cafeterias in 10 Cities. 



Predominant 

Prices charged 

per Serving 

(Cents). 



Lowest and 

Highest 

Prices charged 

per Serving 
(Cents). 



2-5 
2-5 
1-5 
3-5 



12-20 



girl can buy one kind of protein food, a vegetable, a dessert and a 
beverage. This is the same lunch for which she pays 25 cents in the 
commercial restaurants. 

It might be thought that the retail prices of food in the different 
cities would vary according to the cost of production and distribution. 
Such was not the case on the bills of fare described above. Appar- 
ently those retail prices which the patron will pay are charged both 
in the restaurants and employees' cafeterias. 

Typical bills of fare from 3 employees' cafeterias in Boston, 
Buffalo and Washington, D. C, follow: — 





Boston. 
















Cents. 


Cents. 


Fish chowder, .... 


12 


Crackers, 3 for .... 1 


Sliced tongue, .... 


10 


Cookies, 2 for . 








1 


Potato salad, .... 


5 


Cake, 










3 


Broiled sweet potato, . 


5 


Pie, . 












4 


Butter heaps, .... 


5 


Tea, . 












2 


Sliced tomatoes, 


5 


Coffee, 












3 


Sardine sandwich, . 


5 


Cocoa, 












3 


Bread pudding and sauce, . 


6 


Milk, 












3 


Rolls, 


1 


Candy, 












1 


Butter, 


1 


Crullers, 












2 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



53 



Washington. 



Cents. 

Vegetable soup, .... 5 
Roast beef, mashed potatoes, 
bread and butter, coffee or tea 

or milk, 15 

Frankfurters and potato salad, . 10 



Egg salad, rolls and butter, 
Mashed potatoes, . 
Stewed tomatoes, . 
Spaghetti, 
Ice cream, 



Cents. 

10 
3 
3 
3 
5 



Buffalo. 



Cents. 



Beef croquette, tomato sauce, 
scalloped potatoes, bread or 
rolls, coffee or tea or cocoa or 
milk, pudding or pie or ice 
cream, .... 

Clam chowder, 

Swiss steak, gravy. 

Cheese souffle. 

Beef croquette, tomato sauce. 

Codfish cake, ... 

Baked beans, . 

Scalloped potatoes. 

Steamed squash, 

Wax beans. 

Baking powder biscuit, . 



20 
3 

12 
5 

10 
5 
3 
3 
4 
3 
1 



Cents. 

White bread, 2 

Butter, 1 

Rye bread, . . . . . 2 

Graham bread, .... 2 

Grapefruit salad, .... 10 

Compote of rice with peaches, . 3 

Pineapple pie, 4 

Stewed prunes, .... 3 

Vanilla ice cream, .... 3 

Walnut sundae, .... 6 

Coffee, 3 

Tea, green or black, with lemon or 

milk, per cup, . . . .3 

Cocoa, whipped cream, ... 3 

Milk, 3 



Consideration should be given to the fact that the public restau- 
rant exists as an investment for business profit, whereas the cafeteria 
in department stores is established to contribute to the efficiency 
and health of the employees. One is commercial, the other is sub- 
sidized; one expects to make as much or more profit than the money 
could earn at interest in the bank, the other expects to cover merely 
the expense of food and labor and to pay little or nothing of the cost 
of rent, light, heat and upkeep. Women working in large groups in 
factories and stores willingly wait on themselves, knowing that this 
reduces the expense of the daily meal. In some cafeterias they also 
return the trays and dishes to a counter or dish carriage, thus saving 
the cost of labor in clearing away. In other places where both self 
service and table service are used an extra charge of 5 cents is. made 
for the latter. 

A number of dairy lunches, lunch counters, "one-arm" ^ places 

I Restaurants providing chairs with wide arms rather than tables or counters. 



54 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

and commercial cafeterias are to be found in Boston, but even in 
these prices are higher than a working woman can pay regularly for 
a satisfactory meal at noon. Managers of two of the commercial 
cafeterias have calculated the average price paid by women in these 
places to be 18 cents. Their patrons, however, include shoppers as 
well as working women, and the fact that the price quoted is an 
average shows that the actual cost of some of the lunches ranged 
above as well as below the 18 cents, and while this is undoubtedly 
lower than the restaurant average it is still beyond the price of 
15 cents to which the working woman tries to limit herself, and the 
fact remains that any commercial lunch room cannot be regularly 
patronized by women who are earning low wages. 

Composition of the Lunches in the Department Stores. 

Women working in department stores had, on the whole, a more 
satisfactory luncheon than did women in the factories. The average 
number of items per menu was 4.3, as compared with 3.6 in the 
factories and 2.6 in the commercial restaurants (Tables 16, 19 and 
22), and the list of foods was longer than either by 7 items. About 
50 (53.6) per cent, of those who bought lunches purchased the 
entire luncheon, and 46.5 per cent, bought something every day 
(Table 23). 

A typical menu purchased entirely in a cafeteria consisted of a 
hot dish, bread and butter, dessert and a beverage. The principal 
hot dish chosen was meat, and it was often though not always 
accompanied by baked potatoes; pie and cake were chosen about 
equally for desserts; and tea and coffee were reported twice as often 
as meat, and just as often as all the hot dishes together. These hot 
beverages were chosen equally in the cafeterias, whereas coffee was 
found to be the favorite in the restaurants and tea in the factories. 
Sandwiches were not purchased at all in either place, but bread and 
butter and desserts were purchased more than they were brought 
from home. 

Women in department stores ate their noon meal in the employees' 
lunch room, but they were not obliged to purchase their food there; 
20 per cent, of those interviewed brought their entire lunch from 
home, and nearly 30 (27.1) per cent, brought the regulation lunch of 
sandwiches, bread and butter, fruit and dessert, and supplemented 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



55 



Table 22. — Number of Times the Kinds of Food appear in Lunch Menus of 
Women and Girls in Department Stores, classified according to Method of 
obtaining Food. 





Total Times 


Number of Times 




Kinds of Food appeab 
IN Lunch Menits. 


Kinds of Food were re- 
ported IN Lunch Menus 
BY Women who — 


Kinds of Food. 








Number. 


Per Cent. 


Bought it in 
Employees' 
Cafeterias. 


Brought it 
from Home. 


Allfoods 


1,264 > 


100.0 


725 


539 


Soup, 


34 


2.7 


24 


10 


Hot dish 


111 


8.8 


111 


_ 


Meat, 


56 




5G 


_ 


Fish, 


24 


- 


24 


_ 


Eggs 


1 


- 


1 


_ 


Macaroni and cheese, .... 


30 


- 


30 


- 


Sandwiches 


144 


11.4 


_ 


144 


Meat 


73 


- 


_ 


73 


Fish 


17 


- 


_ 


17 


Eg- 


3 


_ 


_ 


3 


Cheese, 


19 


- 


_ 


19 


Jelly or jam, 


20 


- 


_ 


20 


Nut and sugar, 


4 


- 


- 


4 


Peanut butter 


6 


_ 


_ 


6 


Others 


2 


- 


- 


2 


Vegetables, 


113 


9.0 


98 


15 


Potatoes, 


66 


- 


55 


11 


Peas, 


12 


_ 


12 




Corn, 


8 


- 


8 


_ 


Lettuce, 


8 


_ 


8 


_ 


Baked beans, 


5 


- 


4 


1 


Others, 


14 


- 


11 


3 


Salads 


16 


1.3 


13 


3 


Bread and butter, 


240 


19.0 


138 


102 


Desserts 


287 


22.7 


167 


120 


Cake 


126 


- 


50 


76 


Pie, 


76 


- 


57 


19 




29 


- 


29 


_ 


Doughnuts, 


15 


- 


7 


8 


Cheese, -. 


8 


- 


7 


1 


Coffee jelly 


10 


- 


8 


2 




10 


- 


7 


3 


Cookies, 


10 


- 


1 


9 


French pastry 


3 


- 


1 


2 




133 


10.5 


41 


92 


Oranges, 


62 


- 


15 


47 




37 


- 


10 


27 


Bananas, 


17 


- 


5 


12 


Preserves, 


9 


- 


7 


2 


Chocolates 


5 


- 


3 


2 


Pop corn, 


3 


- 


1 


2 


Relishes, 


11 


.8 


5 


6 


Beverages, 


175 


13.8 


128 


47 


Tea, 


89 


- 


56 


33 


Coffee, 


60 


- 


54 


6 


Milk 


15 


- 


14 


1 


Cocoa 


9 


- 


2 


7 


Sodas, 


2 


~ 


2 


~ 



1 Number of schedules for above information, 179, which excludes two who go home to dinner; number 
of menus, 298. Buyers numbered 146 and had 226 menus; bringers numbered 107 and had 158 menus. 
The average number of items per menu was 4.3. Seventy-four schedules are repeated, since food was 
both bought and brought. 



56 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



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THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



57 



them with a vegetable, dessert or beverage purchased in the cafeteria 
(Table 23). Thus they could procure a heartier meal and spend but 
5 or 10 cents daily. This percentage, though based on small num- 
bers, was approximately true in each of the stores. Meat and cheese 

Table 24. — Number of Times Certain Foods appear in Lunch Menus of Women 
and Girls in Department Stores who brought Lunches from Home and sup- 
plemented them hij Food purchased in Employees' Cafeterias. ^ 



Kinds of Food brought 
FROM Home. 



Times the 
Kind of Food 
appeared in 
Lunch Menus. 



Num- 
ber. 



Ail foods, 

Sandwiches, . 
Meat, 
Fish, 

Egg, . . . . 
Cheese, 
Jelly or jam, 
Peanut butter. 
Others, 

Vegetables, . 

Salads, . . . . 

Bread and butter. 

Desserts, 
Cake, 

Pie 

Doughnuts, 
Cheese, 
Cookies, . 

Fruit, candy, nuts, etc 
Oranges, . 
Apples, 
Bananas, ., 
Preserves, 
Chocolates, 
Popcorn and nuts, . 

Relishes, . . . 

Beverages, . 
Tea, . . . . 
Milk, 
Cocoa, 



240 



Per 
Cent. 



100.0 



32.1 



.9 

.4 

26.6 

16.2 



19.6 



.4 
3.S 



Kinds of Food bought 
to supplement — 



All foods, 



Hot dishes, . 
Soup or chowder. 
Meat, 
Fish, 
Cheese and macaroni 



Vegetables, . 
Potatoes, . 
Peas, 
Corn, 

Baked beans, 
Rice, 

Salads, 

Bread and butter, 

Desserts, 
Cake, 
Pie, . 
Ice cream, 
Doughnuts, 
Cookies, . 
Puddings, 

Relishes, 



Beverages, 
Tea, . 
Coffee, 
Milk, 
Cocoa, 



Times the 
Kind op Food 
appe.a.red in 
Lunch Menus. 



Num- 
ber. 



110 



Per 

Cent. 



100.0 



11.0 



14.5 



6.4 

2.7 

21.8 



1.8 

41.8 



I Number of schedules, 49; of menus. 



sandwiches, bread and butter, cake, oranges and apples held their 
own in the lunch brought from home (Table 22), just as they did in 
the factories, but not so many fish and egg sandwiches were brought, 
partly because there were fewer foreigners, and partly because these 
foods taste better when freshly prepared. The foods purchased as 



58 FOOD OF WOEKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

supplementary to those brought from home were chiefly coffee, tea, 
meat or fish, cheese and macaroni, salad, potatoes, pie, cake and 
ice cream. Those who brought tea to the cafeterias had the use of 
cooking facilities or hot water, as was the case in the factories. 
Whenever the women are allowed to make it for themselves, tea is 
undoubtedly the favorite beverage for the noon meal. 

Genekal Survey of Employees' Cafeterias. 

A comparison of the public restaurant and employees' cafeterias 
in the department stores shows that the cafeteria is a means of 
supplying working women with food and relaxation which is satis- 
factory both to the employers and to the employees. ]\Ianagers 
in the factories were interested in the problem of getting a hot 
lunch served to their employees, and often requested criticism of the 
lunch conditions and suggestions for changes. It seemed desirable 
to ascertain how extensively the employees' cafeterias had been 
established in other cities, and to secure information as to their 
equipment, management and cost of operation. With the co-operation 
of various organizations and individuals, a list of firms was com- 
piled which were known to have established employees' cafeterias 
for women, and a questionnaire was sent to each firm. Information 
was also sought by personal visit to the 7 Boston stores that had 
the cafeterias. Twenty of the larger mercantile establishments in 
10 different cities, 32 factories located in 24 different cities, and 9 
public utilities, publishing firms and educational organizations in 5 
cities are included, making a total of 61 firms in 30 different cities, 
from Boston to San Francisco and from Chicago to Louisville and 
Washington, D. C. It is not claimed that the list is complete, but 
that it shows how widely this form of industrial betterment has 
been adopted as an essential of good business organization, and how 
many important and well-known firms are advocates of the em- 
ployees' cafeteria. More than half (33) of the firms responded with 
information, descriptive booklets and letters. An examination of 
the data collected indicates that the employees' cafeteria is probably 
the chief and usually the first form of industrial betterment work 
undertaken in stores, factories and offices throughout the country. 

In the large establishments employing from 60 to 2,000 or more 
women the relations between the employer and the employee usually 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 59 

are controlled by a service or welfare department, with a secretary, a 
director, a manager or a superintendent at its head. The em- 
ployees' lunch room may be directly in charge of one of these man- 
agers in the service department, or of a matron who attends to the 
preparation and serving of the food and the care of the lunch room, 
while the superintendent himself devotes his time to the buying and 
equipment and to other activities connected with the accommoda- 
tion and comfort and industrial relations of the employees. Man- 
agement of this type is paternalistic in character, since the firm 
provides it as a wise and humane business policy, but retains entire 
control of its operation. This type prevails in 26 of these 33 estab- 
lishments, 9 of which have managers of service departments, 21 have 
matrons, one a nurse and another a dietitian in charge. One lunch 
club is operated by its own lunch committee. 

An interesting example of the paternalistic type of lunch room 
occurs in a firm that provides free of charge a regular dinner at noon 
for its women employees. The meal is prepared by the women 
themselves in a well-equipped kitchen under the direction of a 
domestic science teacher, apparently to the pride and satisfaction of 
all concerned. "We have emphasized the home idea, and the girls 
are like a happy family. Their health has improved; besides, they 
all learn to cook and become good housekeepers," wrote the welfare 
secretary. 

Four of the firms reporting through the questionnaire have "house 
committees" consisting of 3 to 6 members representing both the 
employers and the employees. Three others have employees' asso- 
ciations' with lunch room committees that are either advisory or au- 
thoritative on questions of management. This type may be termed 
co-operative in contrast to paternalistic, and the trend of industrial 
relations to-day shows that the future is with the co-operative form 
of control. One of the directors wrote, "It is imperative that a 
committee of employees be given the management, because they are 
very efficient in keeping tabs on the gustatory pulse of the store, 
and their advice is valuable." 

One establishment of the co-operative type has an employees' as- 
sociation for which no dues are charged, and in which every em- 
ployee has some voice in the administration and control of working 
conditions. An executive committee is elected with general powers, 
and the manager of the lunch room is a professional restaurateur who 
enforces the rules of the association. 



60 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

The question as to whether the lunch rooms were patronized by 
men as well as by women, and by office workers as well as other 
employees of the firm, had emphatic replies from a number of 
sources. Twenty-two, or two-thirds of the replies, stated that men 
and women ate together, and in 30 of the cafeterias office workers 
ate with the saleswomen and general helpers. In one of the Boston 
firms the fireman, the elevator man, the bundle girl, the buyer, the 
owner and the saleswomen ate in the same room, and very likely at 
the same tables. Eleven of the firms made additional provision for 
the comfort of the men employees who wished to smoke after their 
luncheon, and one firm found it possible to allow smoking in one end 
of the lunch room itself, for the ventilation and size of the room were 
such that there could be no annoyance to any one. 

Equipment of Lunch, Rest and Recreation Rooms. 

The amount of space that can be devoted to the use of the em- 
ployees, and the equipment of the rooms for lunch, rest and recrea- 
tion purposes, have been very carefully studied ^ and standardized 
by one of the firms, and plans of the general layout, arrangement 
and cost of the equipment were sent in reply to the questionnaire. 
The per capita service area was 19.2 square feet, and the whole 
service department area, providing for lunch, rest and recreation 
space, occupied 6.4 per cent, of a building for 300 employees. 

Only one firm reported that no space was devoted to rest and 
recreation rooms. Five reported rest and recreation rooms separate 
from the lunch room, but 27 had the recreation room combined with 
it. Chairs and tables are moved back when the employees use the 
room for parties and meetings. Pianos were reported in 13 of these 
combination lunch and recreation rooms, and pianolas or grapho- 
phones in 4 others. Reading matter was supplied for those who 
wished, — newspapers in 15 firms, magazines in 20, a permanent 
library in 13, and a station of the city public library in 13. Other 
attractive features mentioned in the replies were easy chairs, rocking 
chairs and steamer chairs, lounges, card tables, writing tables, desks, 
telephone booth, bulletin board, hanging baskets and window boxes. 
Items of equipment for the cafeteria service reported by the 33 firms 
included a counter and railing, with shelf storage for dishes, a steam 

1 Equipment for a Factory Service Department, General Service Department, National Lamp Works 
of the General Electric Company, Cleveland, Ohio. 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 



61 






is 3'^£:.°t 



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62 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

table for the service of hot dishes and urns for the service of bever- 
ages, a cash register, dish carriage and garbage cans. The tables 
could be used by four to six persons, and were oblong or round, 
folding or permanent, with bare, polished or white tops. The cook- 
ing equipment included a range, a ventilating hood and pipe, a sink 
trough, cold storage for barrel and canned goods, and tables for use 
in the preparation of foods for cooking. The kitchens were rooms 
behind the cafeteria counters and service areas, and were separated 
from them by partitions with sliding doors through which food could 
be delivered to the servers by the cooks. ^ 

Patronage, Predominant Price and Expenditures. 

Twenty-five of the questionnaires that were returned by 33 of the 
listed firms were complete enough for tabulation as to the extent of 
patronage, the predominant price paid by men and women, and the 
expenditure per week for food and labor. The 8 factories, 3 offices 
and 14 department stores which supplied this information were 
grouped according to whether the lunch room was reported as 
operated at cost, at a profit or at a loss (Table 25). The data given 
are not strictly accurate, as the answers to the questions in some 
cases were carefully calculated and in others were estimated in 
round numbers. The statistics given include those from department 
stores in Boston where individual schedules of workers were secured. 
A total of 24,000 employees is represented in these 25 firms, 10 of 
which reported lunch rooms operated at cost, 6 at a profit and 9 at a 
loss. 

The extent of patronage in these employees' cafeterias is reckoned 
on the number of possible patrons, excluding those who go home to 
dinner. Using these 22,637 possible patrons as the base, it was 
found that the average percentage of patronage was 56.8. This is 
in agreement with the percentages determined from the individual 
schedules in Boston department stores. It is therefore approximately 
correct to say that 20 per cent, of the employees will bring a lunch 
from home, and that from 50 to 60 per cent, can be counted upon for 
daily patronage. 

1 The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has announced a projected bulletin to be called A 
Handbook on Welfare Work. Plans and specifications and descriptions of the various welfare activities 
throughout the country are to appear, and will include "anything over and above wages which an employer 
does for the employees' comfort or improvement, whether social or intellectual, which is not required by 
law or by the necessity of the industry." United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Review, 
July, 1916, p. 18. 



THE NOON LUNCHEON. 63 

Wide variations from this percentage are explained by differences 
in the prices and quality of food and the extent to which the em- 
ployees participate in the management of the lunch room. The 
lowest percentage for any establishment (20) was given by a Boston 
firm where individuals said that the food was undercooked. The next 
lowest percentage (26.5) coincides with higher predominant prices, 
20 and 25 cents being paid for a luncheon rather than 15 cents. The 
predominant range in price paid by women in the 25 cafeterias is 
from 10 to 15 cents, and by men, 15 to 20 cents. That paid by 
women agrees with what the women themselves reported in the 
Boston stores and with the results of studies in New York and 
Ohio. In Store L, which had 100 per cent, patronage, the good 
quality of the food was the particular concern of the Boston manager. 
Office B, also showing 100 per cent, in patronage, was a lunch club, 
the management of which was completely in the hands of the mem- 
bers. Store A and Factory C are well known for the quality of food 
and of goods produced, and are found with 98 and 80 per cent, of 
patronage. Five firms that gave partial information could not be 
tabulated with the rest, but they reported meals served free of 
charge and 100 per cent, of patronage. 

Information was sought as to the expenditure per week for raw 
materials, labor and the various items of overhead expense. The 
costs of raw materials and of labor were given by practically all the 
firms. INIany of them explained that they did not separate the items 
for overhead expenses, or that these items were confused with other 
office expenditures or charged up to profit and loss. One firm gave 
the proportionate expenditure for the items of food and labor rather 
than the money cost, and these figures appear twice because the 
lunch room manager catered for two of the stores. The total cost of 
raw materials and preparation was divided between 80 (79.9) per cent, 
for raw materials and 20 (20.1) per cent, for the labor of preparation 
and of counter service. In other words, food cost four times what 
labor cost, and the large number of weekly patrons (77,000) reduced 
the per capita cost to 10 cents per meal. 

Managers of the employees' cafeterias reported them as run "at 
cost," "at a profit" or "at a loss," but not more than one of them 
reported expenditures for overhead items, — rent, light, heat, fuel 
and upkeep. Such cafeterias do not, literally speaking, cover all ex- 
penses, as every expense which a commercial lunch room meets must 



64 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

be apportioned and paid by the employees' cafeteria before it can 
truly be said to be operated at cost or at a profit. The overhead 
charges usually represent the amount of money which an employer 
is willing to invest in order to make employment in his establish- 
ment attractive to the employees, and in order to promote their 
health and business efiiciency. Such an investment by the employer 
subsidizes the lunch room, and the degree of subsidy varies greatly 
in the various stores, factories and offices. Where meals are pro- 
vided free, the subsidy is 100 per cent., and the management bears 
a burden that borders upon charity. Three of the 33 reporting firms 
gave amounts for rent varying from S5 to $25, 3 reported bills for 
light from SI to SIO, 1 separated the item of heat for $3.60, 6 gave 
amounts for fuel between S3 and S60, and 4 allowed S2 to So2 per 
week for upkeep. 

Evidently employers ^ are bidding high for labor and efficiency, 
and are finding it profitable to enlist the health and good will of the 
employee in behalf of the firm. "It is a good business policy," 
writes one manager, " to establish lunch rooms." " The best invest- 
ment the company ever made," writes another. "We are of the 
opinion that the provision of lunch facilities is the only right thing 
to do," comes from the Pacific coast, and "That it is wise from a 
business as well as an economic viewpoint is no longer questioned by 
those who have the welfare of their employees at heart," is the 
verdict from an Atlantic metropolis. 

' "Owners of the larger, and the more progressive owners of the smaller, establishments recognize the 
fact that their interests are identical with those of their employees from a purely economic standpoint. 
These employers recognize that money invested for the maintenance of sanitary and healthful conditions 
in their establishments is a profitable investment. . . . They realize that good working conditions result 
in obtaining better, more intelligent and steadier employees, . . . and that absences on account of sick- 
ness are diminished and a higher grade of efficiency is secured." Massachusetts State Board of Health, 
Report of 1911, p. 567. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 65 



CHAPTER III. 
THE FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 

The problem of three meals a day looms large to the working 
woman dependent on her own resources. She has a very small sum 
to spend for food, — too small to admit of serious mistakes in 
choice. Yet she has little knowledge of the comparative nutritive 
value of the bewildering variety of foods offered in the restaurant 
menu or at the market, and, generally, slight skill in cookery and 
little time or strength to devote to home preparation of meals. 
These difficulties are well summed up in a letter from a young work- 
ing woman in Boston telling of her own experience in the business 
world. 

"After I had paid the room rent," she wrote, "an average of 
25 cents a week for laundry, 5 cents for church, and saving out 60 
cents for car fare, I had $2.10 left to pay for clothes, 21 meals and 
incidentals. Some weeks I could live on it and others I could 
not. . . . About every three weeks I went on a 'food spree.' For 

instance, one day I simply had to have some M 's lobster 

salad for lunch. It cost me 45 cents. I felt wicked all the rest of 
the week whenever I thought of that extravagance, but yet I did not 
regret it, for I was perfectly willing to live on almost nothing for the 
rest of the w^eek to make up for it. I had to have those 'sprees' 
because — it's hard to explain — but I felt it kept me normal. 
But I used to' think if I could only get the right kinds of food, the 
right combination, I could eat less and be better nourished. I got 
books out of the library, but the cook books did not help much and 
the books on food value were too scientific. ... I asked the girls at 
the office about right kinds of food to eat, and they did not know. 
Housewives told me they didn't hear of such things in their day. 
When I used to feel queer or dizzy, I do not believe it was because 
I didn't get enough to eat, but because I didn't have the right 
things. 

"My chum tells me that on her darkest financial day she had 10 
cents to pay for the three meals. She bought a 5-cent box of 
crackers and 5 cents worth of pickles. When I asked her if she 



66 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



didn't know of something more nourishing than pickles she said she 
didn't." 

Waitresses and domestic servants do not have to face these food 
difficulties, but outside of these occupations is found a great body of 
industrial workers who are not living in family groups. Where do 
these women get their food, what variety can they obtain for their 
money, what devices for reducing cost are practicable, and what is 
the least sum for which a woman can be nourished adequately? 
All these are questions of importance to any community in which 
large numbers of women workers live apart from family groups. All 
minimum wage discussions take such a woman as their unit, and try 
to ascertain what wages are necessary to "supply the cost of living 
and to maintain her in health." Moreover, the isolation of women 
living in this way makes it possible that they may become public 
charges when overtaken by misfortune or ill health. 

In 1900 there were in the 8 largest cities of the United States 
91,770 women workers living away from home (Table 26). Boston 



Table 26. — Living Arrangements of Women Sixteen Years of Age and Over 
engaged in Gainful Occupations'^ in the Eight Largest Cities in the United 
States.^ 



Cities. 








Total Women. 


Women living at 
Home. 


Women boarding. 




Number. 


Per Cent. 


Number. 


Per Cent. 


Number. 


Per Cent 


The 8 cities, 

Baltimore, . 
Boston, 
Chicago, 
Cleveland, . 
New York, . 
Philadelphia, 
Pittsburg, 
St. Louis, 










553,515 

38,104 
43,454 
95,883 
19,964 
218,073 
91,774 
12,767 
33,496 


100.0 

100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 


461,745 

32,846 
32,847 
78,144 
17,549 
185,739 
74,920 
10,906 
28,794 


83.4 

86.2 
75.6 
81.5 
87.9 
85.2 
81.6 
85.4 
86. 


91,770 

5,258 
10,607 
17,739 

2,415 
32,334 
16,854 

1,861 

4,702 


16.6 

13.8 
24.4 
18.5 
12.1 
14.8 
18.4 
14.6 
14.0 



' Excluding boarding and lodging-house keepers, housekeepers and stewardesses, nurses and midvvives, 
servants and waitresses. 

2 Twelfth United States Census, 1900, Statistics of Women at Work. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 



67 



showed the largest proportion, about one-fourth of all women in 
gainful occupations being boarders. All great cities have large num- 
bers of women living in this fashion; the proportion in 1900 varied 
from one-eighth (12.1 per cent.) of all women at work in Cleveland 
to about one-fifth (18.4 per cent.) of those at work in Philadelphia. 
Nor is this large proportion of women living away from their families 
confined to a few industries. In 1900 it varied in Boston from 20.1 
per cent, of the saleswomen to 32,3 per cent, of the laundry workers.^ 



Table 27. — Living Arrangements of Women engaged in Different Industries 

in Massachusetts.^ 



Industries. 


Total 


Women. 


Women living at 
Home. 


Women living 

AWAY FROM HoME. 




Number. 


Per Cent. 


Number. 


Per Cent. 


Number. 


Per Cent 


All the industries, 


10,423 


100.0 


8,996 


86.3 


1,427 


13.7 


Brush factories 


481 


100.0 


418 


86.9 


63 


13.1 


Candy factories, .... 


1,595 


100.0 


1,481 


92.9 


114 


7.1 


Corset factories, .... 


672 


100.0 


565 


84.1 


107 


15.9 


Hosiery and knit goods factories, 


1,676 


100.0 


1,498 


89,4 


178 


10.6 


Laundries, 


1,218 


100.0 


945 


77.6 


273 


22.4 


Paper-box factories, 


866 


100.0 


727 


83.9 


139 


16.1 


Retail stores, .... 


3,233 


100.0 


2,801 


86.6 


432 


13.4 


Women's clothing factories, 


6S2 


100.0 


561 


82.3 


121 


17.7 



Minimum wage reports in 8 industries in Massachusetts made from 
1913 to 1916 show that about one-seventh (13.7 per cent.) of all the 
women from whom data were obtained were not living at home 
(Table 27). Laundry workers showed the highest percent., boarding 
and candy workers the lowest. The question of food for working 
women living apart from family groups is, then, common to all in- 
dustries and to all sections of the country. It is peculiarly urgent 
that the problem be understood in a city like Boston, where the 

1 Twelfth United States Census, 1900, Statistics of Women at Work, p. 222. In a study of women em- 
ployed in department stores in Boston in 1915, only 10.2 per cent, of the 1,763 interviewed were found to be 
living " independently." See Unemployment among Women in Department and Other Retail Stores in 
Boston, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 182 (January, 1916), pp. 33, 52, 64. 

2 Reports of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission, 1914-16. The table includes only women 
from whom data as to living arrangements were available. 



68 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

proportion of women boarding is large and where the community 
as a whole has assumed to an unusual extent the responsibility for 
the welfare of its workers. 

Method of Investigation. 

To discover what arrangements for obtaining food have been made 
by working women in Boston living away from their homes, and to 
learn how much food costs and what variety can be obtained for a 
given expenditure, was the object of this part of the investigation. 
The unit was the variety and cost of food for one week. The sched- 
ule contained questions concerning nationality, wages, occupation 
and amounts spent in one week for rent, laundry and meals, in 
addition to the inquiry as to food eaten each day.^ Through co- 
operation with the Alumnae Association of Simmons College, Boston, 
48 schedules were obtained. These represented a rather high wage 
group among working women, and included 12 students. By means 
of personal visits made by investigators to women known to be 
living away from their families, the number of schedules complete 
enough to tabulate was increased to 273. The investigation extended 
from December, 1915, to April, 1916. The schedules secured through 
the Simmons College Alumnae Association were filled out completely 
and sent into the office by mail. When a personal visit was made, 
the general information and menus of meals for the past two days 
were obtained. jNIost of the women could remember what they had 
eaten "to-day and yesterday," but launched into generalities when 
questioned as to previous days. A supplementary schedule contain- 
ing spaces for the menus for one week was, therefore, left to be filled 
out from day to day, and sent in by the person interviewed. A 
large number of these were returned, partially or wholly completed, 
and bearing every mark of reasonable accuracy. When the menus 
for the six meals obtained by the investigator were compared with 
those on the returned schedule they were found to be surprisingly 
similar. Little or no tendency to enlarge on the variety of food 
could be discovered. The danger seemed rather to be that some of 
the food actually eaten would be omitted from the enumeration of 
articles. 

The usual difficulties incident to finding women living apart from 

1 See Appendix A, No. 1. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 



69 



family groups were encountered. Women "adrift" ^ have so few 
social affiliations that settlements, churches and clubs could afford 
the investigators little help. Moreover, many of them move fre- 
quently, and tracing them was rendered difficult by the general 
migratory character of rooming-house neighborhoods. The isolation 

Table 28. — Occupations of Tioo Hundred and Sixty-one Women living Adrift 

in Boston. 



Occupations. 



Per Cent. 



All occupations 

Professional service, .... 

Artists, ...... 

Investigators and social workers, 

Teachers 

Trained nurses, 

Librarians, 

Journalists, 

Domestic and personal service, ^ . 
Home and office cleaners, . 

Laundresses, 

Servants and waitresses, 

Trade and transportation. 

Forewomen, 

Office workers 

Saleswomen, 

Packers and shippers 

Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. 
Forewomen, . . . . . 

Dressmakers and seamstresses, . 

Milliners 

Semi-skilled operatives: — 

Candy factories, .... 

Box factories, 

Rubber factories, .... 

Shoe factories, 

Bookbinderies, . . . . 

Lace and embroidery, factories. 

Foundries, . . . . . 

Sewing trades, .... 

Textile mills, 

No data 



100.0 

13.4 

2^7 
7.3 

.4 
1.0 

.4 

11.5 

.4 

10.0 

1.1 

39.-5 

.7 

18.4 

20.0 

.4 

34.9 
2.3 
7.3 
1.5 

3.8 
1.9 

.4 
2.7 

.8 

.8 
1.1 
11.9 

.4 

.7 



of a number of these women was marked. Long hours of work, 
coupled with the general habit of using what leisure remained for 
laundry, cooking and other household tasks, left little time or 
strength for making friends or forming personal ties of any kind. 
The hopelessness of the struggle was expressed frequently by the 
older workers, who sometimes refused to try to estimate the cost of 
food for the week. " I should go wild if I really knew what I pay for 

' Adrift: not living as an integral part of a family group. See Report on the Condition of Women and 
Child Wage Earners in the United States, Vol. V., pp. 10-12. 
2 Not recei\'ing food as part of wages. 



70 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



food and rent. It takes all I make to keep me, I know that," said 
one. As she grows older, excessive timidity about looking for better 
work or asking for better pay, selfishness and indifference to any- 
thing outside the regular day's routine become characteristic of the 
woman worker without home ties. 

Reports as to food eaten were obtained from 261 working women; 
these included menus for 1,077 breakfasts, 1,047 lunches and 1,028 
dinners, in all, 3,152 meals, an average of 12 for each person. The 
number of items of food tabulated from the schedules was 21,462. 



Table 29. — Age and Birthplace of Two Hwidred and Sixty-one Working Women 
living away from their Families. 





Total. 


Number of Women born in — 


Not re- 
ported. 


Ages. 


United 
States. 


Canada. 


Great 
Britain. 


Russia. 


Other 
Coun- 
tries. 


Total, 

15 years and under 20, 
20 years and under 25, 
25 years and under 30, 
30 years and under 35, 
35 years and under 40, 
40 years and under 45, 
45 years and under 50, 
50 years and under 55, 
55 years and over. 
Not reported. 


261 

6 
54 
58 
48 
32 
26 
12 
12 
5 
8 


178 

3 

32 
40 
41 
19 
17 

7 
11 

3 

5 


33 

1 
3 

7 
3 
8 
7 
2 

1 
1 


23 

4 

7 
2 
3 

2 
3 

1 
1 


19 

2 
14 
3 


5 

1 

2 

2 


3 
1 

2 



These women lived in almost every section of Boston and its vicinity, 
received wages varying from $2 to $32 a week, and were engaged in 
most of the principal occupations mentioned in the census (Table 
28). About one-third (34.9 per cent.) of those interviewed were in 
manufacturing or mechanical pursuits, two-fifths (39.5 per cent.) in 
trade and transportation, one-tenth (11.5 per cent.) in domestic and 
personal service, and one-eighth (13.4 per cent.) in professional serv- 
ice. Since the lists of women "adrift" came from a number of 
different sources, and since the workers interviewed varied so greatly 
in age, experience and traditions, the group probably represents 
fairly well the situation as a whole among the working women in 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 71 

Boston. The wages and expenditure for the week of the interview 
were obtained. Since the study was made during the time of maxi- 
mum employment in most industries, income and expenditure are 
typical of a normal condition of work. 

Age and nationality as well as occupation are of importance in 
considering the problems of living which must be met by women 
away from their families. One hundred and ninety-three of the 
women interviewed, almost three-fourths of the total number, were 
twenty-five years of age or over, and 29 were forty-five or over. 
Relatively few girls less than twenty years of age are " adrift," partly 
because they usually earn wages too small to allow of this method of 
living, and partly because the families of most of them are as yet 
not broken up, and are unwilling to trust immature girls away from 
home. In discussing the food of these working women it is necessary 
to take into consideration this maturity; the kind of food needed for 
women over twenty differs from that required for growth by younger 
workers. Nationality also has an influence on the manner of living 
of the w^orking woman "adrift." No Italians not living as an in- 
tegral part of a family group were found. The parents of 114 of the 
women were born in the United States, 125 were of foreign and 19 of 
mixed parentage.^ About one-fifth of the girls born in the United 
States, and somewhat more than one-third of those born outside the 
United States, were less than twenty-five years of age (Table 29). 
American girls and girls of Russian nativity left home somewhat 
earlier than those born in the other countries. Eighty-three of the 
women interviewed reported that they had been living away from 
their families since they were less than twenty years of age; 82 were 
from twenty to twenty-five, and 37 were from twenty-five to thirty 
years old when they left home. The average number of years away 
from home was between nine and ten. These facts should tend to 
discredit the statement that women can be expected to work a rela- 
tively short timCj and that the problems of workers adrift can be of 
little real importance. If the 261 studied in Boston are a fair sample 
of the 24.4 per cent. (Table 26) of the working women living away 
from home, it is evident that a large proportion of the entire group 
wull have many years of this lonely life. 

How effectually many of these workers are barred from any hope 
of assistance from home in an emergency is shown by the proportion 

1 Data concerning parentage of 3 women were not available. 



72 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

of women interviewed reporting both parents dead or living in other 
countries. The residence of the surviving parent was considered if 
either father or mother was dead. One hundred and eleven had no 
parents Uving; the parents of 41 others resided abroad. About three- 
fifths of the total number could, then, obtain no help from father 
or mother in case of illness. Forty-one others reported parents 
living in the United States outside of Massachusetts; the parents 
of only 52 resided in the State. ^ No doubt many of the women have 
relatives who would help in an extremity, but the length of time 
away from home is significant of the fact that this group of women 
is really "adrift," that their needs are not to be confused with those 
of a worker belonging to a family, nor are costs of living and stand- 
ards identical with those of a family group. Whether or not this 
manner of life is wise for an individual and salutary for the com- 
munity is not the question. Since these are the conditions it is neces- 
sary that any general action shall be taken with full understanding 
of them. 

Expenditure for Food. 

The expenditure for food is the largest item of any wage earner's 
budget. The amount spent by women interviewed in the course of 
this study depended on the wages received (Table 30). Eleven of the 
261 workers spent less than $2 a week for food, and 8 of these were 
receiving less than $9.50 a week; 10 spent S6 or more a week; and 
8 of these were receiving $15 a week or more. The largest number 
of women spent from $3 to $4 a week. The "mode," the sum that 
the greatest number expended, was S3.70, w^hile the median w^as 
$3.65. There were as many women spending less than this sum 
as there were spending more than this sum. Half of all the women 
interviewed spent from $3 to $4.45 a week for food, one-fourth spent 
less than $3 and one-fourth more than $4.45. The arithmetic aver- 
age was $3.63 a week (Table 31). Since median, mode and average 
all fall in practically the same group, the conclusion is justified that 
about $3.65 per week is a normal expenditure for a normal working 
woman. She will spend this much for food if she can afford it. 

This conclusion agrees fairly well with the results of such investi- 
gations as have been made in the past. Thirty social workers in 
conference in 1910 estimated the cost of board for a woman adrift 

I Sixteen did not report residence of parents. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 73 

to be not less than S4 a week.^ In 1906 a study was made of work- 
ing women "adrift" in Boston. The average weekly expenditure 
for food was found to be $3.19.^ 

The amounts spent for food by women earning less than S8 a week 
differ very little. Twenty-nine of the 52 women in this group 
spent less than S3, and all but 2 spent less than S4 (Table 30). The 
difference in average amounts spent for food by women earning less 
than $6 and by those earning from S6 to S8 is only 4 cents (Table 
31). Two marked increases in the amounts occur, one of 21.3 per 
cent, between the groups earning, respectively, S6 and less than $8, 
and $8 and less than $10, and the other 17.9 per cent, between the 
group earning S14 and less than §16, and that earning S16 and 
more. The first increase doubtless means that better food and a 
more adequate supply is purchased; wages of less than $8 do not 
warrant an expenditure large enough to insure a really satisfying 
diet. The second increase probably indicates a decided change in the 
standard of living, with which absolute necessity has nothing to do. 
It is reasonable to say that while 33 women spent less than $2.50 
a week for food (Table 30), S2.60 is the least allowance that should 
be made, since this is the average expenditure for the lowest wage 
group, — those receiving less than $5. Only 10 women spent $6 
a week or more. The average expenditure for the high wage group, 
$4.68, probably represents a maximum food allowance irrespective 
of income, beyond which relatively few working women go. Be- 
tween these extremes, at about $3.65, lies the comfortable average, 
the allowance for food which provides for an adequate and not 
extravagant diet. It is rather interesting to note that only when a 
woman reaches a wage of $10 a week does her average expenditure 
for food approximately equal this amount (Table 31). The per- 
centage of income spent for food decreases rapidly in the low-wage 
group, and shows a smaller, fairly regular decline after an adequate 
income has been attained. The failure of the $16 to $18 group to 
show this trend probably is due to the fact that the small number 
included in the tabulation resulted in undue weight being given to 
a few individuals. 

■^ Report of the Commission on Minimum Wage Boards, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, House 
Document 1697, January, 1912, p. 222. 

2 Bosworth, L. Marion: The Living Wage of Women Workers, p. 17. Between 1907 and 1915, retail 
prices for food advanced in the North Atlantic Division 18 per cent. If Miss Bosworth's figures be increased 
18 per cent., the average amount becomes S3. 76, approximately the expenditure found in this study. See 
Retail Prices, 1907 to June, 1915, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 184, Novem- 
ber, 1915, p. 8. 



74 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



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FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 75 



Table 31. — Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away 
from their Families spent for Food, by Wage Groups. 









Number of 
Schedules. 


Average Weekly Expend- 
iture FOR Food. 




Amount. 


Per Cent, of 
Income. 


Total, .... 










261 


S3 63 


31.4 


Less than S6, 










21 


2 73 


68.6 


S6 and less than S8, 










31 


2 77 


41.4 


88 and less than -SIO, . 










61 


3 36 


39.4 


$10 and less than $12, 










32 


3 55 


35.2 


S12 and less than .?14, 










29 


3 80 


31.0 


$14 and less than $16, 










31 


3 97 


26.9 


$16 and less than $18, 










14 


4 68 


27.7 


$18 and more. 










33 


4 66 


21.2 


Not reported, i 










9 


- 


- 


1 Including those 


not r 


eporting \ 


vages 


and those not reporting expenditure for food. 



Effect of Place of Residence on Expenditure for 
Food and Rent. 

Although Boston is made up of sections differing very greatly in 
character, place of residence seems to affect very little the amount 
of money spent for food (Table 32). The number of those paying 
less than S3. 50 a week for board was in excess of the number paying 
more than $3.50 in the South End, pre-eminently the rooming-house 
district, and in South Boston, inhabited almost entirely by working- 
class families. The price of board in the suburbs seems to be, in 
general, higher than the price in Boston proper. If a working woman 
is obliged to economize in expenditure for food she will find one sec- 
tion of the city almost as expensive as another. The South End, 
with its numerous restaurants, delicatessen and boarding-houses, 
oft'ers more easily found accommodations for women "adrift" than 
do other sections. In individual instances it was found possible to 
live more cheaply there and in South Boston and Roxbury than in 
other districts. 

Place of residence does, however, decidedly influence the ex- 
penditure for rent (Table 32). Only one-fifth of the women living in 
the Back Bay and Fenway — the section offering accommodations 



76 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

to great numbers of students as well as wage-earning women — paid 
less than S2.50 a week for rent. Residents of the suburbs were 
almost equally divided, about half paying less than $2.50 a week. 
On the other hand, the majority of women living in the South End, 
South Boston, the West End and Roxbury spent less than S2.50 a 
week for rooms. The largest number interviewed in Dorchester, 
Roxbury and South Boston spent less than S2. Of the 52 women 
paying less than $1.50 for rent, 17 lived in Roxbury and Dorchester, 
10 in South Boston and 9 in the West End. Since these places, 
with the exception of the last, are at some distance from the business 
district, car fare must be added to rent, making the total expenditure 
approximately the same in these more distant places as in the South 
End. 

Expenditure for rent varied less with changes of income than 
expenditure for food. The increase of both was fairly regular except 
at the point of transition from wages of $10 a week and less than 
$12, to $12 and less than $14, where the average amount of rent 
paid increased 72 cents, or 38 per cent. (Table 33). This probably 
indicates a change in the standard of living. Usually a woman 
moved to a more desirable neighborhood rather than to a better 
room in the same neighborhood. Women living in a given block 
generally were found to be receiving approximately the same wages. 
It is interesting to note that while the largest increase in expenditure 
for food came between the groups receiving, respectively, $6 to $8 
and $8 to $10, rent did not increase materially until a much higher 
wage group was reached. Evidently the added income was used 
first for food, and expenditure for rent increased when the more 
imperative want was met. 

In the case of food, Engel's law was substantiated, — the greater 
the income, the smaller the percentage of outlay. The second state- 
ment, that the percentage of income expended for lodging remains 
the same whatever the income, was not proved. The percentage for 
lodging varied with a general downward tendency, from 30.9 per 
cent, for women receiving $5 and less than $6, to 15.7 per cent, for 
those receiving $18 and more. In the study made in 1906 it was 
found that the variation ranged from 21.6 per cent, in the case of 
women earning less than $5 to 13 per cent, for women earning $15 
and more.^ 

' Bosworth, L. Marion: The Living Wage of Women Workers, p. 17. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 



77 



Table 32. — Number of Women living awmj from their Families expending 
Specified Amounts for Food and Rent, by Places of Residence. 



Residence. 


Number of Women spending 
FOR Food — 


Number of Women spending 
FOR Rent — 


Total. 


Less than 
$3.50. 


$3.50 and 

more. 


Total. 


Less than 
$2.50. 


$2.50 and 

more. 


Total, 

Boston, 

Back Bay, .... 
South End, .... 
South Boston, .... 

West End, 

Roxbury, etc.,' 

Near-by suburbs, 

Brookline 

Cambridge, .... 
Somerville, .... 
Other suburbs 

Suburbs, 10 miles or more distant, 

Not reported, 2 .... 


261 

206 
24 
70 
21 
25 
66 

35 
9 

15 
8 
3 

14 

6 


113 

100 
10 
36 
12 
10 
32 

11 
4 
3 
2 

2 

2 


142 

106 

14 

34 

9 

15 
34 

24 
5 
12 

6 

1 

12 


261 

209 
25 
70 
21 
25 
68 

35 
9 

15 
8 
3 

15 

2 


153 

128 
5 
42 
19 
15 
47 

18 
4 

8 
5 

1 

7 


106 

81 

20 

28 

2 

10 
21 

17 
5 
7 
3 
2 

8 



' Includes Roxbury, Allston, Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, 
Roslindale. 
2 Two did not report place of residence; 4 did not report amount expended for food. 



Table 33. — Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from 
their Families spent for Rent, by Wage Groups. 

















Number of 
Schedules. 


Aver.\ge Weekly 
Expenditure for Rent. 




Amount. 


Per Cent, of 
Income. 


Total 














261 


$2 26 


19.4 


Less than $6, 














21 


1 84 


46.1 


$6 and less than $8, 














31 


1 49 


22.2 


$8 and less than $10, . 














61 


1 66 


19.5 


$10 and less than $12, 














33 


1 88 


18.6 


$12 and less than $14, 














30 


2 60 


21.2 


S14 and less than $16, 














31 


2 86 


19.4 


$16 and less than .$18, 














14 


2 99 


17.7 


$18 and more. 














35 


3 51 


15.7 


Not reported, ' 














5 


- 


- 


1 Including those i 


ot re 


port! 


ng w 


ages 


and 


h 


ose not reporting 


amount .spent f 


or rent. 



78 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



One means of economizing on rent is to take a roommate. The 
arrangement is frequently more a matter of convenience than of 
desire for congenial company. Each roommate usually went her 
own way, with little regard for the other. "I hardly ever spoke to 
the old lady I roomed with," remarked a shoe saleswoman. "She 
was peculiar in lots of ways, and kept all her things locked up in her 
trunk for fear I would know what she had. I was glad when she 
left, because the landlord didn't raise the rent on me, but let me have 
the room for what my share had been and 50 cents more." More 
than two-thirds (67.8 per cent.) of the women interviewed had no 
roommates, and one-fourth (25.3 per cent.) had one. The single 
room is the standard for expenditure, and working women as a rule 
are very unwilling to sacrifice their privacy. 

Expenditure for Living Expenses. 

While the amounts spent for board and room combined (Table 34) 
show a steady and fairly regular increase, this is not caused by 
similar regularity in increase of both board and lodging. Although 
these two items grow larger, as already noted, one does not increase 
in the same wage groups as the other. The increase for the two 



Table 34. — Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from 
their Families spent for Food and Lodging, hy Wage Groups. 



Average Weekly Wages. 



Number of 
Schedules. 



Total, . 

Less than $6, 
$6 and less than SS, 
$8 and less than SIO, 
$10 and less than $12, 
$12 and less than $14, 
$14 and less than $16, 
$16 and less than $18, 
$18 and more, 
Not reported. 



Average Weekly 

Expenditure for Food 

AND Lodging. 



Amount. 



S5 89 

4 57 

4 26 

5 03 

5 43 

6 45 

6 84 

7 67 

8 18 



Per Cent, of 
Was:es, 



51.0 

114.7 
63.6 
58. 9 
53.7 
52.6 
46.4 
45.5 
37.2 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 



79 



items alternate, but changes in expenditures for food precede those 
for rent. Thus larger payments for food were found when the tran- 
sition was made from the $6 to $8 wage group to the $8 to $10 
group, and also when the woman began earning $16 to $18; while 
changes in rent were observed at the times when the woman passed 
from the $10 to $12 wage group to the $12 to $14 group, and when 
she earned $18 or over. The general assumption that increase in the 
price of living means simultaneous increase in expenditure for rent 
and for food was not found to be true of the women included in this 
study. 

Table 35. — Average Weekly Expenditures for Food and Lodging of Women 
living in New York City and in Ohio, by Wage Groups. 













New York City. ' 


Ohio. 2 


Weekly Wages. 


Number of 

Women 
reporting. 


Average Ex- 
penditure for 
Room and 
Board. 


Number of 

Women 
reporting. 


Average Ex- 
penditure for 
Room and 
Board. 


Total, 

Less than $6, . 
$6 and less than 88, 
$8 and less than $10, 
$10 and less than $12, 
$12 and less than $14, 
$14 and less than $16, 
$16 and less than $18, 
$18 and more, . 


- 








153 

12 

43 

54 

22 

6 

14 

1 

1 


$5 13 

3 50 

4 41 

5 04 

5 79 

6 43 

7 14 
6 50 
9 20 


208 

22 
72 
68 
46 


SJ 02 

3 31 

3 79 

4 09 
4 63 



1 Fourth Report of the Factory Investigating Commission, 1915, State of New York, Vol. IV., pp. 1539, 
1775. 

2 Cost of Living of Working Women in Ohio, The Industrial Commission of Ohio, 1915, Report No. 14, 
p. 41. 



The average expenditure was $5.89, first reached when the wages 
were from $12 to $14. The percentage of income spent for food and 
rent declined steadily with increasing wages (Table 34). The largest 
decrease came when a woman began to earn from $6 to $8 a week, 
and the smallest when she was paid $12 to $14 a week. The steady 
increase in the sum spent indicates that more generous wages were 
spent for better living conditions, not chiefly for clothes and in- 
cidentals, as has sometimes been claimed. 



80 FOOD OF WOKKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

The expenditure for living expenses by working women was the 
subject of studies made in 1915 for New York City by the Factory 
Investigating Commission, and for Ohio by the Industrial Commis- 
sion. The amounts spent for food and lodging by women in New 
York differ very little in the several wage groups from similar ex- 
penditure in Boston (Table 35). In the wage groups S8 to SIO and 
$12 to $14 they are almost identical. The New York figures are 
slightly higher in the groups earning $G and less than $8, $10 and less 
than $12, and $14 and less than $1G. In Ohio the prices were de- 
cidedly lower. In Boston women receiving from $8 to $10 a week 
paid on an average $5.04 for board and room, while in Ohio they 
paid an average of $4.09. No doubt the lower cost of food in the 
Middle West accounts for this difference in expenditure. New York 
and Boston retail prices are more nearly alike (Tables 4 and 5). 

Living costs more for a woman "adrift" than for a member of a 
family group. In Massachusetts the cost of food was $1.35 a week 
for each individual in a normal family, while rent, light and heat 
cost 86 cents, a total expenditure for living expenses of $2,21.^ No 
women living "adrift" were found in the course of this study whose 
expenditures were as low as this. Two sisters managed by the most 
rigid economy to keep expenses as low as $2.88 a week each. They 
lived in two small back rooms in an undesirable neighborhood, doing 
all their own cooking on a range which also suppHed their heat. 
They bought meat and eggs from a relative in the country at whole- 
sale prices, worked all day in a candy factory and spent their even- 
ings in studying at night school or washing and ironing their clothes 
at home. Both had been going at intervals to a dispensary because 
of various troubles due to overwork. Evidently their health was 
suffering, but they could spend no more on living, because they were 
in seasonal work, and never in busy weeks earned more than $8. 
Young and unusually ambitious, they were mortgaging their future 
by a ceaseless round of work, and both were losing their fitness to fill 
positions paying better wages. None of the other women interviewed 
even approached an expenditure so low as theirs. Family standards 
of expenditure are not applicable to women adrift. Any sort of 
legislation inaugurated for the welfare of workers should take into 

' Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of Labor, 1903, p. 540. Tf this amount 
is "■weighted" by adding 18 per cent, to the price of food, the difference between retail prices from 1907 
to 1915, the total living expenses would amount to $2.45. See Bulletin of the United States Bureau of 
Labor Statistics, No. 184, Retail Prices, 1907 to June, 1915 (November, 1915) p. 8. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 81 

account the fact that a woman hving away from home earning less 
than $8 a week is economically below the standard maintained by 
the ordinary working class family in Massachusetts, a standard not 
commonly considered too high for the best welfare of the community. 

Besides the expenditure for board and room, laundry may legiti- 
mately be considered a living expense. Women "adrift" economize 
consistently on this item. One hundred and twenty-three of the 
women interviewed did all of their washing and ironing, 4 others 
had their washing done free at the laundry where they were em- 
ployed and ironed the clothes at home. Forty-nine women, many 
of them earning high wages, did part of their laundry; their average 
weekly expenditure was 3G cents. Only SO women reported sending 
out all their washing, for which they paid an average of 54 cents a 
week.^ Like food and rent, this expenditure increased as wages in- 
creased; the average for women earning less than SO a week was 3 
cents; for those receiving SIO to .S12, 17 cents; for those earning $18 
or more, 40 cents. Washing and ironing are done in the evening and 
on Sundays. There is some question as to whether working women 
should spend their brief leisure in this sort of work. The evident 
savings effected commonly outweigh in importance any possible 
future danger to health resulting from the greater strain of heavy 
evening work after long hours of regular employment. 

The amounts spent by women in different wage groups for food, 
rent and laundry show^n in Table 36 indicate a fairly regular in- 
crease in expenditure, with considerable individual variation. About 
one-tenth of the women spent less than $4 a week for all living ex- 
penses; all of these were earning less than $10. More than two- 
thirds (68.(3 per cent.) spent less than $1 a day; this group included 
about one-fifth of the women earning $16 or more a week. The 
greatest number of women spent from $5 to $6. The amount spent 
by the "median group" was $5.74. The number spending less than 
this amount was the same as the number spending more than this 
sum. The average expenditure was $6.13. 

1 Three women sent their washing home by express. Two others furnished no information about 
laundry. 



82 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 






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FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 



83 



Plans of Living. 

Women living away from tlieir families develop great ingenuity in 
devising methods of economical living. Since the expenditure for 
food always exceeds that for rent and laundry combined, plan of 
living means plan for obtaining food. The more usual of the plans 
adopted by the 261 women interviewed are shown in Table 37. The 
women paying least for food prepare all meals in their rooms, and 
carry their noon lunches to eat in their places of employment. Pre- 
paring meals in the room did not necessitate an expensive equip- 
ment; the usual custom seemed to be to buy what was absolutely 
necessary at the 10-cent store, and to dispense with all superfluous 
utensils and furniture. A one or two burner gas plate or oil stove 
on an oilcloth-covered box or table, dishes kept on the closet shelf 
or in a bureau drawer, a dining table that was sometimes a desk, 
sometimes a cutting table and sometimes the lamp stand, — these 
furnished all that was indispensable for bedroom housekeeping. 
The tablecloth was usually a newspaper or piece of wrapping paper. 



Table 37. — Average Weekhj Wage and Average Weekly Expenditure for Food 
classified by Plans of Living of Women away from their Families. 



Places where Food was obtained. 



Number of 
Women. 



Average 
Weekly Wage. 



Average 
Weekly Ex- 
penditure 
for Food. 



Total, 



Room, or room and workroom 

Room, or room and workroom and — 

Boarding house, 

Restaurant, ....... 

Restaurant and boarding house, 

Restaurant, or restaurant and workroom, . 

Restaurant, workroom and boarding; house. 

Boarding house, or boarding house and workroom, 

"Home" 'and — 

Room or workroom, 

Restaurant, ....... 

Boarding house, ...... 

Co-operative housekeeping, .... 

Not reported, 2 



261 

24 

8 
47 
5 

30 

44 

54 



$11 54 

7 63 

11 07 
13 67 

9 20 

13 40 

12 64 

8 87 



10 30 
10 00 
18 83 

12 83 



S3 63 



3 74 

3 84 

3 44 

4 38 
4 19 
3 23 



2 61 
5 25 
4 12 



' Home: meals eaten with friends and not paid for, or obtained during week-end visits to their homes. 
2 Including those not reporting wages and those not reporting expenditure for food. 



84 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

occasionally a red table cover or white oilcloth. Service dishes were, 
as a general thing, dispensed with, the saucepan used in cooking 
serving as a vegetable dish and the paper sack in which prepared 
meat or cake had been purchased being used in lieu of a special 
plate. Some of the women who could afford kitchenette apartments 
had more care for details, but the crowded condition of many of the 
bedrooms where cooking was done made real housekeeping methods 
an absolute impossibility; the equipment was often meager and the 
service anything but dainty. 

Obtaining all meals at a boarding house is somewhat more ex- 
pensive. A boarding house is often managed by a woman who keeps 
no accounts and has no way of knowing whether she is gaining or 
losing money. Doing her own work she pays little for service. 
For these reasons the difference in amounts expended by women 
eating in their own rooms and those depending on boarding houses 
was somewhat smaller than might be expected. Several women 
boarding-house keepers were interviewed, and all acknowledged that 
they were covering their own expenses and that was about all. 
High-class roomers pay well, and many women give board in order 
to keep permanent and desirable lodgers. They say that all the 
profit is made on rooms, not on the food. Women who eat part of 
their meals at a boarding house and part at a restaurant and the 
rest in their rooms pay somewhat more. 

The most expensive plan of living is at restaurants. A number of 
women, most of them receiving high wages, have adopted this method, 
because they are free to go where they please, and have not the 
trouble of deciding in advance what they will have to eat. One sales- 
woman remarked that she never ate any two successive meals in the 
same restaurant. " The food tastes better if you move around," she 
said. Several workers felt that there is need in Boston for more 
restaurants of the better type, with more restful atmosphere than 
can be found in most commercial places. A number expressed the 
wish for well-cooked food at moderate prices, which they said they 
had difficulty in finding. These women felt that they must conserve 
time and strength, and could not afford to do any of their own 
cooking, even if the rules of the houses where they lived permitted 
the practice. 

The combination preferred by many of the highest wage group is 
partly restaurant living and partly preparation of meals at home. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 85 

Usually this means cooking of breakfast or breakfast and supper in 
their rooms, and lunching at a restaurant. Those who claim that the 
motive for housekeeping is quite as often the housekeeping instinct 
and the desire for a quiet, restful place in which to eat as the neces- 
sity for economy are doubtless correct in some measure. Women in 
all wage groups do both laundry work and cooking, although it is 
significant that 17 out of the 24 workers who prepared all of their 
own food were earning less than $9 a week. To know that meals 
may be cooked at home gives a pleasant sense of independence; but 
women who can afford to choose their manner of living prefer not to 
make the exertion all the time. About 60 per cent, of all the women 
prepared no meals in their rooms. Of the 58 women earning S15 a 
week or more, 33 went out for all meals, while 25 prepared some 
meals in their rooms. The latter preferred this manner of living, 
since their incomes were large enough to enable them to do as they 
pleased. 

Some of these women doing light housekeeping buy raw materials 
and do all of the preparation. While many landladies make no 
extra charge for gas, the usual price seems to be about 50 cents a 
month. One woman showed with pride a shelf of jelly and marma- 
lade put up by herself during her evenings. Having been reared on 
a farm in the Middle West she had a taste for preserving, and liked 
her own cooking best. As a rule, however, women living thus de- 
pend on delicatessen shops and bakeries for cooked supplies. On 
Wednesdays and Saturdays South End delicatessen stores sell hot 
baked beans at 20 cents a quart, and on Thursdays boiled dinner 
for the same price. A pint of boiled dinner, with its corned beef and 
vegetables, is quite enough for a meal for two persons. A bewilder- 
ing variety of cooked meats and bake-shop cakes and cookies are 
always displayed. Some women purchase supplies at the markets on 
Saturday afternoons. The number of articles that can be cooked on 
a one or two burner gas plate is limited. Canned soups are a staple 
food, and, with bread and hermits from the bakery and oranges 
from the Italian at the corner, make an easily prepared meal. The 
difficulty of buying in small quantities is a real one: "You tire of 
your corn before you are able to eat up a can." 

Women preparing all of their meals in their rooms expended only 
60.5 per cent, as much for food as those eating always at restaurants. 
The difference is not necessarily due to variations in quality or 



86 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

quantity of fare. The woman doing all of her own work paid noth- 
ing for service, "overhead charges," or restaurant keepers' profit, 
which obviously formed a considerable part of the price paid by the 
worker buying at a restaurant. The carefully kept records of the 
School Lunch Department of the Women's Educational and Indus- 
trial Union, a department pledged to sell noon lunches at cost to 
high school pupils, showed in 1914 to 1915 that 58.5 per cent, of 
the total expenditure had been for raw materials, 24.5 per cent, for 
wages and the rest for overhead expenses. 

Women living at boarding houses pay only 21.9 per 'cent, more 
than those doing all of their own cooking. The lack of business 
training of landladies, previously noted, the less efficient service, the 
smaller variety of food offered and the lowered "fixed charges" 
account for the difference in price of restaurant and boarding-house 
living. 

If a working woman must economize she is forced to do all of her 
own cooking. Again we are confronted with the question of the 
wisdom of this procedure, requiring a considerable expenditure of 
physical energy at the close of a working day. Whether in the long 
run it is profitable for a working woman who must depend on her- 
self for advancement in her work, who must have strength for long 
hours of labor, extending as far into the future as she can see, to 
employ what leisure she has in washing, ironing and cooking, with 
consequent loss of rest and recreation, — this is a problem to be 
considered. Since 3 out of every 5 women interviewed did none of 
their cooking, and since women with good wages preferred an ar- 
rangement which allowed them to choose whether they should pre- 
pare their own meals or not, it is safe to assume that the majority 
of women have learned that for them the immediate saving is not 
worth the ultimate cost. Probably two-fifths of the women at work 
like housekeeping, and will do some of it whether or not the neces- 
sity for strict economy exists. A few of the women interviewed ate 
meals with friends at frequent intervals, with consequent saving in 
the cost of board. Some of them seemed to count on this method 
of reducing expenses, but these cases were too few and too irregular 
to be considered important. 

Besides the ways of living just discussed, co-operative plans have 
been tried by a number of working women. Co-operative living 
meant, for purposes of this study, co-operation in the matter of food. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 87 

Thirty-one women, of all ages, reported living in this fashion, 7 of 
them with sisters, aunts or other relatives, and the remainder with 
strangers. The average wage of the 30 who reported on this matter 
was $12.83, although 8 of the women received less than $9 a week. 
The average expenditure for food was $3.25, for rent, $2.49. The 
amount paid for both, an average of So. 74, was lower than the 
amount paid by women falling in the §12 to $14 salary group (Table 
34). The expenditure for living expenses represents 44.7 per cent, 
of the income, a lower proportion than that spent by any women 
except those earning $18 or more. Most of the women interviewed 
acknowledged the financial advantages of co-operative housekeeping, 
but seemed to lack the personal qualities which living in this fashion 
demands. Many were unwilling to give up their absolute inde- 
pendence, or were suspicious and feared that some one of the group 
might prove to be a shirker and increase the burdens of the rest. 
Some had tried the plan and found it a failure. The reasons for its 
lack of success were summed up by one sample maker in a waist 
manufacturing establishment. After remarking that she was 40 
years old, she added, "You know, we get harder to live with as we 
become older. Ten years ago I was lots better tempered than I am 
now, when the least little thing irritates me." 

The 12 students from whom schedules were obtained, all living in 
much the same way as the working women interviewed, paid an 
average of $4.09 a week for board, $3.78 for room, and 39 cents for 
washing, a total of all living expenses of $8.26 a week, about the 
sum paid by women in the highest wage group. Their food ex- 
penditure equaled that of the women earning $15 a week, while for 
room rent they paid more than any of the women except those in the 
highest wage group. The relatively high prices paid by the small 
number of students from whom information was received suggests 
the difficulty of finding desirable accommodations at a moderate 
price in a strange city. It means that the smaller expenditure made 
by most of the working women is the result of careful consideration 
and experience arising from necessity. The comparison also suggests 
the conclusion that many needy students probably are expending 
their energy in earning enough to pay for expensive quarters. A 
little knowledge of working-class conditions would enable them to 
live for much less without sacrificing any of the essentials of fairly 
comfortable living. 



88 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



Expenditures of Women receiving Low Wages. 

The wages mentioned throughout this discussion represent maxi- 
mum employment income, since the schedules were collected during 
the busy season and in a year when most kinds of business were 
prosperous. Eleven of the women were not working when inter- 
viewed, 3 because of dull seasons in their industry and 4 because of 
illness. One had lately been discharged because she was considered 
by the foreman too old to work in the laundry where she had been 
employed. One claimed to have been thrown out of work by the 
operation -of the minimum wage law.^ Two candy workers whose 
weekly wage was somewhat less than $8 a week had saved enough 
to tide them over the dull season. The laundry worker also had 
savings enough to keep her for a little while, but had no prospect 
of permanent employment, and no relatives on whom she could 
depend. Another woman, a saleswoman, was being "trusted" by 
her landlady, with whom she had lived some time. Two of the 
women who were ill were receiving charitable assistance; another 
had been paid accident insurance; and the fourth had received 
help from her sister. Almost all industries have dull seasons of vary- 
ing length; the teacher paid for ten months has the same kind of 
difficulties in making her salary cover annual expenses as do the 
worker in fur, the day cleaner and the home laundress. Other studies 
have shown in a striking way both variation between apparent and 
actual income and diflBculties of dovetailing occupations.^ 

As far as could be learned by questioning the persons inter- 
viewed, savings are one method of meeting irregularity of employ- 
ment, and credit the other. This means that the landlady waits for 
her money until the worker is able to earn enough to cover all 
arrears. If long illness comes, and no relative can be called on for 
help, the burden of support falls squarely on the community at 
large. Old age, as well as illness, has a sinister aspect for the worker. 
Two women well past middle age, met during the course of this 
study, were in a pitiable condition. With slight earning powers they 
were really "adrift," and unable to hope for any improvement in 

> Two women did not give the reason for their unemployment. 

2 Andrews, Irene Osgood: The Relation of Irregular Employment to the Li\-ing Wage for Women, 
Fourth Report of the New York Factory Investigating Commission, Vol. II., pp. 497-635. Regularity of 
Employment in the Women's Ready-to-Wear Garment Industries, Bulletin of the United States Bureau 
of Labor Statistics, No. 183. 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 89 

conditions. Like the man, the woman in industry is "scrapped" 
when she has reached an age at which a woman in the professions 
is nearing the very highest of her working powers. Illness, old age 
and the privations of dull seasons are all hard enough for members 
of a family group; women deprived of the safeguard which numbers 
assure feel that the situation as it stands is really hopeless. 

Of the 21 women whose wages were below S6 a week, 7 were part- 
time workers and 2, day workers. Twelve were working regular 
hours at regular occupations, so that the sums they earned repre- 
sented normal incomes. Eleven of the group were forty years of age 
or over. The expenditure for these workers is entirely abnormal. 
Those whose wages were less than $5 spent 143.5 per cent, of their 
income for board and rent; those receiving $5 and less than S6 
spent 85.7 per cent, of the amount they earned for these living 
expenses. The former were subsidized by relatives, friends or the 
community at large, or were using up small savings; the latter, 
spending nine-tenths of all they earned on food and rent, were 
evidently potential receivers of charitable aid. Is it not reasonable 
to assume that on wages of less than $6 a week no woman living 
away from her family is really self-supporting? She is either a bur- 
den on the community already, or will become a burden when over- 
taken by the slightest misfortune, or when she reaches an age when 
her productive powers begin to weaken. No matter how great her 
ingenuity in making ends meet, she is sure to fail at last. And the 
income of S6 a week must be earned for every week in the year, if 
it is to be sufficient to cover the most imperative needs of living. 
The two-thirds of income spent for board and room by the women 
earning from $6 to $8 a week (Table 34) allows too narrow a margin 
to permit of either dull season or of even a few weeks' unemploy- 
ment. 



Variety of Food eaten in One Week by Working Women 
living away from their families. 

The increased expenditure for food accompanying increased wages 
is spent in securing a larger variety in the weekly menu. If coffee 
and tea be omitted from the list of foods consumed, this increase in 
variety is fairly regular (Table 39). Protein consumption varies the 
least from wage group to wage group. Foods characterized by car- 



90 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

bohydrates and by minerals become increasingly important in the 
higher wage groups. Contrary to the general impression, working 
women seem to care very little for pickles, the average number re- 
ported representing about one serving in ten weeks. The consumption 
of cocoa and of milk depends very little on the wages received. Soup 
shows a general tendency to become more popular as women earn 
larger wages. The total variety of food is really surprisingly large; 
the average number of items in the menus for one week is about 70, 
and this average is reached when a woman begins to earn SIO a week. 
As has been shown (Table 31) the amount expended for food in- 
creased very greatly between the groups earning from S6 to S8 and 
from $8 to $10, respectively. This increase in expenditure means a 
more satisfying variety. The large increase in the variety of food 
consumed by women earning $16 to $18 may be due to personal 
idiosyncrasy, since the number of schedules tabulated for this wage 
group was small. If the group of food items be considered as a whole, 
one-fifth of all the foods consumed in a week were characterized by 
protein, more than two-fifths by carbohydrates, one-fourth by 
minerals, and the remainder were divided among soup, cocoa and 
milk. 

Protein food was eaten about twice a day by all the women. The 
consumption of meat was large, an average of 8 times a week. No 
large group had meat less than once a day. Beef was eaten about 
the same number of times by women in all wage groups. The con- 
sumption of pork, including bacon and ham, was largest in the group 
receiving the lowest wage. Although fish is cheap and plentiful in 
Boston, it was eaten on an average somewhat less than once a week, 
about as frequently as mutton. Eggs, which were high in price at 
the time the schedules were obtained, were mentioned as often as 
beef. The women reported eating beans about once a week and 
cheese somewhat less than once in two weeks. 

The consumption of carbohydrate food increased with the increase 
in wages. Not until a woman earned $8 a week did she reach the 
average, somewhat over 4 times a day. Bread, eaten at 6 meals out 
of 7, formed the largest part of this kind of food. It furnished one- 
third of the total variety eaten by the lowest paid women and one- 
fifth of the variety eaten by the best paid. While all kinds of bread 
were reported, white bread was regarded by most of the women as a 
staple. Cereals, including ordinary breakfast foods and rice, were 



FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 



91 



mentioned somewhat less than 3 times a week. Their use increased 
as wages grew larger. Several women keeping house in their rooms 
cooked their oatmeal in the evening, reheating it next morning 
w^hile they were dressing. In the group of women earning $16 and 
less than $18, carbohydrate food was to some extent substituted for 
protein food. These women showed an especial liking for cereals 
and cake. Macaroni was seldom reported by any of the women. 
Sweets of all kinds appeared on the menus about 10 times a week. 
Cake formed from 5 to 7 per cent, of the total variety, pastry 



Table 38. — Frequency of Use in One Week of Tea and Coffee by Two Hundred 
and Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups. 













Number of 

Women 
reporting. 


AvER.^GE Number of Times a Week 
THE Women drank — 




Both 
Beverages. 


Tea. 


Coffee. 


Total, 

Less than S6, . 
S6 and less than SS, 
SS and less than SIO, 
810 and less than S12, 
812 and less than S14, 
$14 and less than 816, 
816 and less than S18, 
S18 and more, . 
Not reported, . 










261 

.21 
31 
61 
33 
30 
31 
14 
35 
5 


13.1 

14.3 
12.1 
16.3 
13.4 
13.4 
11.7 
8.0 
10.5 
10.6 


7.4 

10.3 
8.0 

11.5 
7.2 
5.5 
6.0 
1.7 
3.9 
.3 


5.7 

4.0 
4.1 
4.8 
6.2 
7.9 
5.7 
6.3 
6.6 
10.3 



from 3 to 4 per cent. Because of their relatively high price, desserts, 
including puddings and ices, were eaten more by the high-wage than 
by the low-wage group. Women receiving less than $6 a week 
bought desserts about once a week, while those receiving $16 or more 
ate them 5 times. The favorite form of pastry was apple pie, often 
used as the main dish at luncheon. In the $16 to $18 wage group 
the average consumption of all sweets was twice a day; in the lowest 
wage group they were mentioned once a day (Table 41). 

The largest variations were found in the consumption of vegetables 
and fruit (Table 42). Women in the low-wage groups ate few 
vegetables except potatoes. Like bread and meat, potatoes were 
eaten with similar frequency by women of all wage groups. The 
use of other vegetables increased steadily with increasing income. 
Salads appear about once a week on the menus of women earning $14 
or more. Much has been written about the value of fruit to workers. 
The diets of working women interviewed for this study indicated that 



92 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



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FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 93 

the dissemination of this information has had the desired result, since 
fruit of some kind appeared on the menu six days out of seven in 
the average of the total group. Women earning $16 or more a week 
were the largest users of fresh fruits. Cooked fruits show consider- 
able fluctuation in the different wage groups, with a general tendency 
toward a gradual increase with larger wages. 

Coffee and tea, having little food value, were omitted from the 
general discussion of diet. They do, however, form a substantial 
part of the total variety (Table 38). Coffee is used more extensively 
and tea less extensively as wages increase. Coffee is more expensive 
and harder to prepare than tea, and is usually thought to require 
cream. Its use in the low-wage group is, therefore, restricted. The 
consumption of the two beverages taken together tends to become 
less as the women earn higher wages. 

The diets of the very low-wage working women showed excessive 
consumption of bread and tea, a large use of potatoes, small use of 
other vegetables and of fruit, and lower consumption of protein. 
When wages reach a higher level, a general increase in variety is 
noticeable. Protein consumption tends to remain stationary, con- 
sumption of fruits, vegetables and sweets increases. 

Dietary Habits of the Women Studied. 

Working women who do light housekeeping often purchase the 
noon meal at a restaurant, making this the substantial part of the 
day's food. Others prefer a very light luncheon, and eat dinner in 
the evening. Sunday dinner, usually at noon, shows the greatest 
variety of food, especially vegetables, of any meal eaten during the 
week. Sunday breakfast, also, presumably because it may be eaten 
in a more leisurely fashion than week-day breakfasts, differs from 
them in variety. Many working women eat a morning meal closely 
resembling a "continental" rather than the traditional American 
breakfast. Only one woman interviewed omitted breakfast regu- 
larly. Ninety-six women drank no coffee for breakfast. The women 
who had it drank it an average of six mornings out of seven. 
One hundred and seventy-nine women mentioned no tea for the 
morning meal; the others used it an average of six mornings of the 
week. Some women who cared for neither coffee nor tea liked milk, 
cocoa or coffee substitutes. Only 12 women reported no beverage of 
any kind in the morning. The rest drank something practically 



94 



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FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 



95- 



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96 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

every morning. The beverage and bread of some kind formed the 
breakfast of many of the women interviewed. Only 6 reported no 
bread for breakfast; the rest mentioned it every morning. Some- 
what more than half the women, 137, ate no cereal in the morning. 
Evidently even the attractive advertising of breakfast-food con- 
cerns and the ease with which many of these cereals can be prepared 
do not serve to make their use universal. 

Meat, fish or eggs were used at breakfast by about three-fourths 
(72.4 per cent.) of the w^orkers. Seventy-two reported no one of these 
articles used at breakfast during the week. The rest had one or the 
other of them, and sometimes more than one, six mornings out of 
seven. Three-fourths of the women in professional service and in 
trade and transportation, and two-thirds of those in other occupa- 
tions, ate the "heavy" breakfast indicated by the consumption of 
meat or other protein food. Forty-five reported the use of potatoes. 
One hundred and forty-six women used no fruit of any kind in the 
morning. The largest number of these were in manufacturing and 
mechanical occupations in which the working day begins early. 
Almost all the women in professional pursuits and in domestic and 
personal service, and half of those in trade and transportation, had 
fruit for breakfast. . A number of local customs were revealed by the 
inquiry; 47 of the women reported having doughnuts, 34 baked beans 
and 5 pie in the morning. Doughnuts are served regularly in many 
families, and Sunday morning breakfast is considered quite incom- 
plete by many if beans are not the principal dish. Pie for breakfast, 
at least among w^orking women in Boston, seems to be more of a 
tradition than a reality. Most of the women interview^ed ate a 
substantial and nourishing, if somewhat monotonous, breakfast, the 
choice of food conforming to habits and tradition rather than to in- 
telligent selection. 

Some discussion of individual menus for a week may be of interest 
exhibiting more concretely the variety of food eaten. Case A was a 
Russian Jewess, nineteen years of age, earning SO. 50 a week as a 
candy packer. She spent SI. 25 a week for room and S2.25 for meals. 
She prepared her own breakfasts and lunches and ate her dinner at a 
boarding house. Her menus for the week of Jan. 30, 1916, were as 
follows : — 



FOOD 01 WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 97 





Breakfast. 


Lunch. 


Dinner. 


Monday, 


Cocoa. 

Bread and butter. 


Cream cheese sandwich. 

Orange. 

Apple. 


Fried meat. 

Potatoes. 

Beans. 


Tuesday, 


Cocoa. 

Bread and butter. 


American cheese sandwich. 
Orange. 


Meat. 
Soup. 
Potatoes. 
Bread. 


Wednesday, 


Cocoa. 

Bread and butter. 


Egg sandwich. 
Orange. 


Cooked meat. 

Soup. 

Beans. 


Thursday, . 


Cocoa. 

Bread and butter. 


Salmon sandwich. 

Orange. 

Apple. 


Fried meat. 
Potatoes. 


Friday, 


Cocoa. 

Bread and butter. 


Salmon sandwich. 
Orange. 


Fish. 

Cooked meat. 
Beans. 


Saturday, . 


Tea. 
Cake. 


Beef. 
Soup. 
Orange. 


Baked potatoes. 
Bread and butter. 
Tea. 


Sunday, 


Orange. 

Cocoa. 

Bread and butter. 


Fried meat. 

Soup. 

Tea. 


Fried egg. 
Milk. 



Case B was a salesgirl of English parentage. She earned $8.50 
a week in a department store, and spent $1 a week for her room 
and $3.95 for board, including lunches at a restaurant. Her other 
meals she ate at a boarding house. Her menu for the week ending 
March 22, 1916, was as follows: — 





Breakfast. 


Lunch. 


Dinner. 


Thursday, 


Oatmeal. 


Beans. 


Fruit. 




Toast. 


Rolls. 


Hash. 




Tea. 


Pudding. 


Pickles. 

Cake. 

Tea. 


Friday, .... 


Oatmeal. 


Creamed carrots. 


Baked macaroni. 




Toast. 


Potatoes. 


Tomato. 




Tea. 


Bread and butter. 


Bread and butter. 






Apple pie. 


Fruit cake. 
Tea. 


Saturday, 


Oatmeal. 


Fish cakes. 


Beef stew. 




Toast. 


Mashed potatoes. 


Bread and butter. 




Tea. 


Bread and butter. 


Cake. 






Custard pie. 


Tea. 


Sunday, .... 


Grapefruit. 


Boiled dinner. 


Beans. 




Chops. 


Hot biscuit. 


Bread. 




Beans. 


Rice pudding. 


Peaches. 




Bread. 


Tea. 


Cake. 




Tea. 




Tea. 


Monday, 


Oatmeal. 


Creamed carrots. 


Boiled dinner. 




Toast. 


Mashed potatoes. 


Sliced peaches. 




Tea. 


Raised biscuits. 


Bread. 






Apple pie. 


Tea. 


Tuesday, 


Oatmeal. 


Beans. 


Cold meat. 




Toast. 


Biscuits. 


Vegetables. 




..Tea. 


Custard pie. 


Tea. 
Fruit. 


Wednesday, . 


Oatmeal. 


Clam chowder. 


Salmon loaf. 




Toast. 


Bread and butter. 


Currant buns. 




Tea. 


Tapioca pudding. 


Bread. 

Tea. 

Fruit. 



98 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



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FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 99 

Certain foods seemed uniformly omitted from the menus ob- 
tained for this study, among them cheese, cornmeal products, maca- 
roni and rice. Cheese is a cheap protein food, and the others supply 
carbohydrates at a low cost. Their unpopularity may be due in part 
to their lack of distinctive flavors and in part to ignorance of their 
food value. One woman explained that she considered corn meal a 
"cheap" food, and she thought cheap foods were not as nourishing 
as expensive ones. Spinach appeared very seldom on the menu, and 
bacon was little used. It is hard to account for the small consump- 
tion of fish. Many people dislike the flavor of boiled fish, and few 
know how to make appetizing sauces to improve this flat taste. 
Frying and broiling seem means of preparation used but seldom. 

Conclusions. 

Although the women living away from their homes in Boston who 
were studied in this investigation were engaged in various occupa- 
tions, and differed greatly in age and in nationality, they had evolved 
a real standard of living suited to their needs. As wages advanced, 
expenditures for food and for rent increased, but not at the same 
time. Given a larger income, a working woman spent it first for 
food, then for rent. The average for both was attained about the 
time the wages reached from SIO to $12 a week. No matter what 
her income, the average working woman did not spend more than 
$4.70 for food; in the matter of rent she did not reach a limit to ex- 
penditure that was so apparent; rent increased as long as wages 
increased. Place of residence affected the amount spent for rent, but 
influenced to no great extent the expenditure for food. 

Wages of $6 a week will cover the average amounts spent for food 
and shelter, but will leave nothing for clothing, medical care, recrea- 
tions and incidentals. With an income of $8 to $10 a woman can 
live in accordance with the standards of an ordinary working-class 
family. Women doing all of their own cooking spent the least for 
food; those living at restaurants spent the most. Working women 
forced to economize saved on service at every turn; they did their 
own washing and bought and prepared their own food. This saving 
on service was effected at the expense of physical energy at the close 
of a working day, which is usually longest for the lowest paid and 
necessarily most economical worker. While co-operative housekeep- 



100 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

ing offers obvious financial advantages, there were found but few 
working women who adopted this fashion of living. 

Judged by variety alone, the food of working women of all wage 
groups was adequate. Protein food was consumed practically the 
same number of times a week by all women except those in the 
group earning less than $6 a week. The use of sweets and vegetables 
increased with better wages, making the total variety eaten much 
larger in the high than in the low wage groups. The standard 
dietary was meat, bread and potatoes, which were consumed with 
much the same frequency by women of all wage groups. 

Since women adrift cannot live as cheaply as members of a family 
group, family standards should not be considered in attempting to gain 
an understanding of the woman who is living away from her parents 
and relatives. The need of a clear comprehension of the situation 
of this class of w^omen workers is apparent when it is realized that in 
Boston they form at least 24.4 per cent, of the whole number of 
women workers, a conservative estimate placing the number at 
between 18,000 and 20,000. When their needs are fully understood 
much of the present uncertainty with regard to the necessity for such 
measures as the minimum wage, old age and sickness insurance, 
and special legislation affecting women workers' hours, will disappear. 
An adequate comprehension of the whole situation must be reached 
by the woman worker herself as well as by the community as a 
whole. 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 101 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 

The purpose of this part of the study is, first, to discover the vari- 
ety, adequacy and cost of food suppUed to women Hving in organ- 
ized houses under the management of persons interested in their 
welfare; second, to examine the general living conditions in the 
different houses; and third, to decide whether it would be well to 
encourage a greater development of this method of providing food 
and lodging for these women. 

Information was obtained from 39 houses of which 22 are in Bos- 
ton and vicinity and 17 are in Lowell, Lynn, Springfield, Waltham 
and Wellesley, Mass., and in New York City and Chicago.^ Of the 
22 houses in Boston and vicinity 4 accommodate students only. 
These will be referred to simply for comparison. The remaining 18, 
which provide accommodations for working women, will form the 
basis for this part of the study. These houses may be classified as 
follows : — 

1. Subsidized houses where a part of the cost of maintenance is supplied by 
donations. 

2. Co-operative houses where all expenses are shared by the occupants. 

3. Houses which are self-supporting but not commercial. 

4. Commercial houses, or those where a profit is expected. 

1. There are 13 houses in Boston and vicinity which belong to the 
first class. They are designated as subsidized, since they pay no 
taxels and depend upon assistance from philanthropic individuals 
when the income from guests is insufficient to cover all expenses. 
Historically these represent the first type of organized houses. 
Their foundation dates back to the days of the early factory system, 
when the owners of large factories in small towns were compelled to 
provide homes for the young women whom they induced to come 
from the country districts to work in their mills. The houses were 
under the supervision of the factory owners, who dictated to the per- 
sons in charge the prices of room and board and the rules of manage- 
ment. 

' For form of inquiry, see Appendix A, No. 4. 



102 FOOD OF WOKKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

The boarding house estabHshed by the Waltham Watch Factory 
about fifty years ago is the only house of this kind that was visited. 
In this house, which is in charge of a matron, about 300 women are 
accommodated. Room and board are furnished at S3 per week. 
While this amount does not cover the cost of maintaining the house, 
the authorities consider it a paying investment. When rates as low 
as these are charged the women are not likely to seek accommodations 
elsewhere. This enables the factory to have close supervision over 
its women employees. 

The factory boarding house has never existed in Boston. It was 
not until the period of the civil war that the establishment of organ- 
ized houses for working women was agitated. With the scarcity of 
male labor due to the Vv'ar, women came in large numbers to Boston. 
Because of low wages and being unacquainted with the city they 
were often compelled to live under deplorable conditions. Through 
missionary relief work these facts were brought to the attention of a 
group of philanthropic w^omen. After many discouragements these 
women succeeded in raising sufficient money in 1S66 to establish the 
first boarding house for working women in Boston. The object of 
this was to "provide for the temporal, moral and religious welfare of 
young women who are dependent on their own exertions for sup- 
port."^ Following this example similar houses were established by 
religious, organizations and philanthropic individuals until 1906, 
when there were 12 subsidized houses in Boston and vicinity which 
offered accommodations to working women. 

2. About this time there seems to have been a feeling on the part 
of some that subsidized houses were not the best type of boarding 
home. This resulted in the establishment of the second class, of 
which there are 2 in Boston. One was opened in 1906 and the other 
in 1913. These houses are managed co-operatively, the expenses as 
well as the responsibility of management being shared by the occu- 
pants. They aim to be entirely self-supporting, paying taxes as well 
as all other expenses. 

3. A third class, differing slightly from the first and second, also 
had its beginning about 1906. These houses were founded by a cor- 
poration or group of individuals for the purpose of providing self- 
supporting homes for students and working women. As no returns 
on the investments are expected, the prices charged cover the cost of 

' Wilson, Elizabeth: Fifty Years of Association Work, pp. 29, 32. 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 103 

maintenance only, except in the case of 2, which also pay taxes. At 
present there are 5 houses of this class in Boston; one of these ac- 
commodates working women, the others students only. Similar ex- 
periments are being made by the Eleanor Association in Chicago and 
by the Young Women's Christian Association in Brooklyn and in 
New York City. 

4. To the fourth class belong the houses which have been estab- 
lished for commercial purposes. There are 2 of these in Boston, 
v/hich are occupied for the most part by professional women who pay 
higher prices than the average working woman can afford. 



Table 43. — Capacity of the Different Types of Organized Houses in Boston and 
Vicinity, and the Number of Occupants at the Time of the Investigation. 



Types of Houses. 


Capacity of 
House. 


Occupants at the Time of 
THE Investigation. 


Number. 


Per Cent, of 
Capacity. 


All the houses, 

Subsidized 

Co-operative, 

Non-commercial, 

Commercial, 


2,077 

1,660 

61 

61 

295 


1,946 

1,544 

60 
61 

281 


93.7 

93.0 
9S.4 
100.0 
95.3 



Women living in Organized Houses. 

The 18 organized houses in Boston and vicinity which furnish the 
basis of this study provide accommodations for 2,077 women, the 
number in the different houses varying from 14 to 850 persons. 
When the visits were made only 93.7 per cent, of these accommoda- 
tions were utilized. As is shown in Table 43 the subsidized houses 
have the smallest percentage, which is no doubt the maximum, since 
the visits were made during the winter months when the number of 
guests is usually the largest. In a similar study recently made in 
New York City the percentage of accommodations utilized is about 
the same, being 93.6 per cent.^ 

Of the total number of women living in the 18 Boston houses it 
will be seen in Table 44 that 15.8 per cent, are students, 40.9 per 



1 Packard, Esther: A Study of Living Conditions of Self-supporting Women in New York City, p. 



104 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



cent, are engaged in occupations which belong to the general class of 
trade and transportation, while only 13.9 per cent, are engaged in 
manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. According to the United 
States Census for 1900 and 1910 the total number of women engaged 
in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits in Boston is larger than 
the number in trade and transportation. Table 45 shows that only 



Table 44. — Occupations of Women living in Organized Houses in Boston and 

Vicinity. 



Occupations. 



Women living in Organ- 
ized Houses. 



Number. 



Per Cent. 



All occupations, 

Professional service, 
Teachers and musicians. 
Trained nurses, . 
Other professional service, . 

Domestic and personal service. 
Laundresses, 

Servants, .... 
Other domestic service. 

Trade and transportation. 
Office work, .... 
Saleswomen, 
Telephone operators, . 
Other occupations. 



Manufacturing and meclaanical pursuits 
Confectionery, 
Clothing manufacturing. 
Dressmaking, millinery, etc.. 
Printing and publishing. 
Other manufacturing pursuits. 

Students, .... 



1,7191 

347 
79 

232 
36 

157 

2 

99 

56 

703 
543 

lis 

41 
1 

240 
2 
70 

119 
35 
14 



100.0 

20.2 
4.6 

13.5 
2.1 

9.2 

.1 

5.8 

3.3 

40.9 

31.5 

6.9 

2.4 

.1 

13.9 
.1 
4.1 
6.9 
2.0 



15.8 



21.6 per cent, of the women in trade and transportation live away 
from their families, while the percentage of women living thus who 
are engaged in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits is 24.5 per 
cent. It was also found in an investigation of 1,086 establishments in 
8 Massachusetts industries belonging to these classes that 53 per 
cent, of all the female employees earned less than $8.^ 

About 18 per cent, of the residents living in the subsidized houses 
earned less than S8. It will be seen that Institution One (Table 46), 

1 The occupations were not reported for 224, and 3 were unemployed; these must be added in order 
to make the total of 1,946 found in the organized houses at the time of this investigation. 

2 Report of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission, January, 1916, Bulletin No. 11, p. 9; 
table computed from data in the Annual Report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics, Statistics 
oi Manufactures for the Year 1913, pp. 2-11; 84-123. 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 105 

Table 45. — The Proportion of Wo77ien Sixteen Years of Age and over in Selected 
Occupations in Boston, living away from their Families in 1900 and in 1910. 



Occupations. 



All the occupations, .... 

Professional service, .... 
Domestic and personal service, 
Trade and transportation, 
Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. 
Other occupations, 



Total Number of 
Women in — 



1900. 



45,882 

5,827 
2,865 
14,485 
16,181 
6,524 



1910.3 



68,733 

9,365 
4,178 
24,498 
21,162 
9,530 



Women living away from 
THEIR Families. ' 



Number 
in 1900. 



12,372 

2,873 

927 

3,125 

3,969 

1,478 



Per Cent. 



Esti- 
mated 
Number 
in 1910. < 



27.0 

49.3 
32.4 
21.6 
24.5 
22.7 



18,612 

4,618 
1,354 
5,292 
5,185 
2,163 



1 Since the classification of occupations in the census for 1910 differs slightly from that of 1900, the 
number of women who are shown in the different classes as living away from their families is an approxi- 
mation. 

2 Twelfth United States Census, 1900, Statistics of Women at Work, p. 222. 

3 Thirteenth United States Census, 1910, Vol. IV., pp. 540, 541. 

^ An estimate based op the number of women in the different occupations shown by the census of 
1910, assuming that the percentage of women Uving away from their families in 1910 was the same as in 
1900. 



Table 46. — Weekly Earnings of Eight Hundred and Eighteen Women living in 
Seven Subsidized Houses.^ 





Women earning — 


Houses. 


under $8. 


UNDER $12. 


UNDER $16. 


$16 AND OVER. 




Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

Cent. 


All the houses, .... 

Institution One, .... 
Institution Two, .... 
Institution Three, ^ . . . 

Institution Four 

Institution Five, .... 

Institution Six 

Institution Seven, s . . . 


147 

10 

31 

71 

6 

10 
19 


18.0 

22.2 
100.0 
12.2 
12.0 
22.2 
70.4 


709 

3 
43 
31 

520 
46 
39 
27 


87.0 

9.1 
95.6 

100.0 
89.0 
92.0 
86.7 

100.0 


805 

31 
45 
31 
576 
50 
45 
27 


98.8 

93.9 
100.0 
100.0 

98.6 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 


10 
2 

8 


1.2 
6.1 

1.4 



1 The total number of women living in the 7 houses was 1,072, of whom 232 were students, 4 were 
out of work and for 18 there were no data. 

2 In this house wages range from ?4.50 to $7 per week. 

» In this house wages were reported as ranging from $4 to 810 per week. The distribution has been 
estimated by classifying the occupations of residents. 



106 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

which is a heavily subsidized house, has no guest who earns less than 
$8 per week, and only 9 per cent, of all the guests earn less than $12 
per week. Institution Seven is also heavily subsidized, but none of 
its guests earns over SIO, and some earn as low as $4 per week. In- 
stitution Three is subsidized to the extent of SI. 275 per guest per 
week, but it will not accept any person who earns more than $7, and 
it has guests who earn only $4.50 per week. While such assistance is 
needed by some residents of these houses, it is evident that the ma- 
jority earn wages which would make self-support possible. 

While the majority of persons living in the organized houses are 
not those who receive low wages, they are the younger working 
women. Since there were no complete records regarding the exact 
ages of the guests, it was not possible to determine their average age. 
However, it is estimated that most of them are between twenty and 
thirty-five years of age, a few being older and some younger. This is 
due to the fact that many of the houses do not take women who are 
over thirty or thirty-five. 

Food supplied in the Boston Houses. 

In the efforts which were made to discover the food supplied to 
the 1,946 women living in the 18 organized houses, both personal 
visits and schedules to be filled in by those in charge were used. In 
addition to the general information shown in Table 47 the schedules 
called for the amount of raw food materials furnished during one 
week, the menus and the total number of people served for the same 
period. While 8 of the houses supplied complete information, part of 
it was estimated by the persons in charge. 

In all of the houses there was lack of an adequate system of book- 
keeping. In some of them no records whatever were kept regarding 
the amount of materials used, nor of the exact number of people 
served at each meal. In addition to these difficulties it was some- 
times hard to gain any information because the persons in charge did 
not seem to realize the semi-public character of the houses. Pub- 
licity of facts was feared and a general dislike for statistics was ex- 
pressed. On these grounds information was refused. In several 
cases at least six visits had to be made before the desired data could 
be obtained. 

Much less difficulty was experienced in finding the variety of the 
food served. Menus showing a week's bill of fare were obtained from 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 107 



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FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 109 

all except 2 of the 18 houses. From one of these menus for 14 meals 
were obtained; from the other only one day's bill of fare was secured. 
The menus for Wednesday of the week reported by each house are 
presented in Table 48, Since these menus do not include any special 
meals, such as might be served on holidays, it is felt they are typical 
of the variety of food supplied in the several houses. 

In a comparison of the meals served in the large and small as well as 
in the high and low priced houses, it is surprising to find how slight 
is the variation, the chief difference being that the large and high-priced 
houses serve a greater variety at each meal, permitting a choice of 
cereals, soups, fish and meats, and in some cases a choice of desserts. 
Soups as well as fruits and vegetables out of season are furnished in 
the more expensive houses. Those charging an average price of less 
than $4 supply meat from 11 to 19 times per week, and those charg- 
ing the highest rates offer it from 11 to 21 times. The meats fur- 
nished consist chiefly of beef, both fresh and corned, and lamb, and 9 
of the more expensive houses supply chicken once a week. Fish is 
served in most of the houses at least 4 times a week. Since the cost 
of meat is so much higher in Boston than in other large cities of the 
United States (Table 4) it would be better to buy less meat and sub- 
stitute in its place the more frequent use of cheese and eggs. It is 
surprising to note that only 5 houses served cheese, and in only one 
of these is it served more than once a week. While most of the 
houses supply eggs once or tw'ice a week, 3 of those charging the 
higher rates serve them from 5 to 10 times, and 3 of the least 
expensive houses do not furnish them at all. However,' it is probable 
that all supply eggs more frequently when they are not so high in 
price. 

Both fresh and canned fruits are served in all but one of the 
houses; 9 serve dried fruits, such as prunes, apricots and peaches, 
and in 7 of these they are served only once a week. The least expen- 
sive houses offer fruit of some kind from 6 to 8 times a week; the 
most expensive serve it from 9 to 12 times, and one house charging 
an intermediate price serves it only once a week. Apples in some 
form or other are the chief kind of fresh fruit offered, and in a few 
cases oranges, bananas, grapes and grapefruit are supplied. 

All of the houses serve white potatoes from 8 to 14 times a week, 
other vegetables from 6 to 23 times, and 10 of them furnish sweet po- 
tatoes once or twice a week. The kinds of vegetables supplied during 



no 



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FOOD OF WOKKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 113 

one week in the several houses vary in number from 5 to 13. They 
consist chiefly of string beans, peas, tomatoes, corn, squash, celery, 
onions and carrots, and baked beans are served from 1 to 4 times a 
week in all except 2 houses. Salads are used in 15 of the houses 
from 1 to 9 times a week; the more expensive houses frequently offer 
them in the place of vegetables. In 9 houses macaroni is also used 
as a substitute for vegetables once or twice a week. 

Hot cereals are served for breakfast by all, and in 8 houses both 
hot and cold cereals are offered. The kind of bread supplied cannot 
be discussed, since none of the houses furnished complete information 
regarding this. All of the houses furnish hot beverages at least once 
a day. Coffee is served at every meal in one house, in 2 houses twice 
a day, in 11 houses for breakfast only and in one house it is served 
only once a week as a special treat. Two houses do not serve any 
tea; the others offer it from 3 to 21 times a week. In 11 of the 
houses milk may be had at all meals. The amount of food which will 
be served to each person at regular meals is not limited in any house. 
Guests are permitted to have as many servings as they desire. Since 
the food was not sampled in all of the houses the quality cannot be 
discussed. A comparison of the general variety and of the kinds of 
food served at each meal during one day will be found in Table 48. 

Lunches are put up in 7 of the houses to be taken out by those 
who cannot return during the noon hour. These lunches consist 
chiefly of sandwiches, fruit and cake, and 2 furnish small bottles of 
milk. All aim to vary from day to day the kinds of sandwiches 
which they supply. One large house provides a choice of 12 different 
kinds of sandwiches, crackers, cake, fruit and chocolates. Each arti- 
cle is separately priced, and any combination may be chosen to the 
amount of 14 cents. In this house about 280 lunches are put up 
daily; of this number, which were served on a particular day, 176, or 
63 per cent., represent choice of substantial and well-balanced 
lunches; 37 were all fruit or all candy, or both fruit and candy; and 
67 were combinations of crackers, fruit, cake and candy. The fol- 
lowing represents a typical lunch: — 

1 ham sandwich, $0.05 

1 jam sandwich, 03 

1 orange, 03 

1 piece nut cake, 03 

$0.14 



114 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

These houses are to be commended for their successful efforts in 
securing a good variety of food. In a similar study in New York 
emphasis is placed on the necessity of planning meals with regard to 
attractiveness of combinations of food. "One of the first rules to be 
observed," says this report, "is to secure contrasts in color, consist- 
ency and flavor."^ It also warns against serving the same meats and 
vegetables at two consecutive meals. ^ To this might be added that 
it is well to avoid serving similar menus on the same days of consecu- 
tive weeks. For instance, the menu which is offered on Monday 
should not be the same as was served on Monday of the previous 
week. The combinations of food offered from day to day in the sev- 
eral houses show that care has been taken to avoid unattractiveness 
and monotony. 

Adequacy of the Food supplied. 

Adequacy is perhaps more important than variety in the diet of 
working women. To ascertain whether the food offered is adequate 
it is necessary to determine whether it is of such character that 
each person may have the proper food values. The reports of 
the raw materials used in preparing the week's menus supplied 
were utilized for this purpose. As has been stated, 8 houses fur- 
nished the desired data. In 5 of these houses the quantities were 
estimated by the persons who planned the meals. Three of the 
houses gave the amounts of raw materials used during one month. 
In one case the information was in the form of monthly statements 
from the firms which furnish supplies. From these statements the 
amounts used during one week were ascertained. Another house, 
having a large central storeroom from which all supplies must be 
obtained by a written daily order, permitted all the food orders for 
one month to be copied. The menus served during the same period 
were also secured. By comparing storeroom orders and the menus 
for 7 consecutive daj^s it was easy to estimate the amount of raw 
food materials used during one week. 

Although every effort was made to secure complete records, the 
striking variation shown in Table 49 makes it doubtful whether the 
amounts are entirely correct. However, the information thus secured 
is as exact as could be obtained, where it is not possible to follow the 

I Corbet, Florence R.: Dietaries for Cliaritable Institutions, State Board of Charities, New York, 1906, 
p. 21. 
s Ibid., p. 19. 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 115 



Table 49. — Amount of Protein and Value of Calories of Food furnished by 
Eight Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity. Based on Supplies used 
during One Week. 





Average per Person per Dat. 


Amount charged per Week for Room 
AND Board. 


Grams of 
Protein 
supplied. 


Grams 
of Protein 

con- 
sumed. ' 


Value in 
Calories 
of Food 
supplied. 


Value in 

Calories 

of Food 

consumed. 


Institution One, $3 for 3 meals per day, 
Institution Two, 83 for 3 meals per day, . 
Institution Three, S4 to S5 for 2 meals per day, 
Institution Four, $4 to $5.50 for 3 meals per day, 
Institution Five, S4.50 to $5 for 3 meals per day. 
Institution Six, 84.50 to $6 for 3 meals per day. 
Institution Seven, 84.25 to 810 for 3 meals per day, . 
Institution Eight, 87.90 for 3 meals per day. 


76.5 
81.0 
91.5 = 
65.1 
79.1 
111.2 
106.3 
95.9 


68.9 
72.9 
82.42 
58.6 
71.2 
100.1 
95.7 
86.3 


2,180.8 

2,702.7 

2,665.82 

1,955.3 

2,542.0 

3,722.2 

3,045.0 

2,718.0 


1,962.8 

2,432.4 

2,399.22 

1,759.8 

2,287.8 

3,350.0 

2,740.5 

2,690.8 



method used in certain dietary studies made in Philadelphia and 
Baltimore.^ In making these studies the investigators spent a week 
at each institution. All stock on hand at the beginning of the week 
was weighed and recorded. An account was kept of all supplies 
purchased or taken from the storeroom, of materials on hand at the 
end of the week and of the weight of table waste each day. By de- 
ducting the amount wasted from the amount supplied it was possible 
to obtain an accurate estimate of the amount consumed per person 
for each day of the period studied.^ 

In obtaining the estimate of the food supplied in the Boston 
houses the amount of protein and the value in calories were calcu- 
lated, and this was divided by the total number served, including in 
this number both guests and employees. Ten per cent, of the 
amount supplied was allowed for waste in serving, as this percentage 
of waste was found in the dietary studies to which reference has been 
made,^ and has been accepted in similar studies by Ellen F. Rich- 

1 Amount supplied less 10 per cent, for table and kitchen waste. 

2 These figures are estimates based on the assumption that the 2 meals served per day represent three- 
fourths of the total amount of food eaten in 1 day. 

3 Smedley, Emma, and Milner, R. D., Dietary Studies in Public Institutions in Philadelphia, Pa., and 
Knight, H. L., Pratt, H. A., and Langworthy, C. F., Dietary Studies in Public Institutions in Baltimore, 
Md., United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 223. 

* Ibid., p. 9. 

5 United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 223, p. 49. 



116 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



ards, Marion Talbot and Mary Swartz Rose. The results of this 
study show the striking lack of standardization of the dietary in 
these houses, as the protein supplied per person for one day varies 
from 65 to 111 grams, and the calories from 1,760 to 3,350 (Table 49). 
The exact dietary needs of the residents of these houses cannot be 
determined, as the food requirements are dependent on such com- 
plex factors as the age and weight of the women, the degree of mus- 
cular activity of their occupations, and the amount of walking and 
standing, during the day. Previous investigations indicate that the 
total bodily fuel needed would be 2,200 to 2,400 calories. In a care- 



Table 50. — Metabolism of Women engaged in Different Occupations.^ 





Age. 


Height. 


Weight 

in 
Pounds. 


Calories per 
Hour. 


Total Calories 

per Day, 
Eight Hours' 
Work, Sixteen 
Hours' Rest. 


Occupation. 


Feet. 


Inches. 


At Rest. 


At Work. 


Hand sewer. 
Hand sewer. 
Machine sewer, 
Machine sewer, . 
Wash woman, . 
Wash woman, . 
Waitress, . 
Waitress, . 
Bookbinder, 
Bookbinder, 


53 
35 
53 
19 
43 
19 
43 
19 
22 
22 


5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 

5 

5 
5 
5 


3 
6 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
4 
3 


139 
143 
139 
110 
125 
110 
125 
110 
105 
112 


75 
64 
75 
64 
75 
64 
75 
64 
70 
61 


83 
88 
103 
119 
285 
186 
228 
143 
98 
127 


1,864 
1,728 
2,024 
1,976 
3,480 
2,512 
3,024 
2,168 
1.904 
1,992 ■ 



ful dietary study made in a home for aged women the average value 
of the food consumed by each person in one day was found to be 
2,206 calories.^ The younger, more active women of the Boston 
houses would require more nourishment. A recent careful calorimeter 
study of the amounts consumed in a day divided betw^een 8 hours' 
work and 16 hours' rest gave the results reported in Table 50. As 
some additional allowance would be necessary on account of possible 
faulty assimilation, and because of the fact that residents of the 
organized houses often have a nine-hour work day, and rarely rest 

1 Quoted by Fisher and Fisk in How to Live, p. 195. The figures are the results of calorimeter tests 
by Becker and Hamalainen at the University of Helsingfors, Finland. For complete report see Skan- 
dina\'isches Archiv fur Physiologic, XXX^I., Band 1, 2 u. 3 Heft. Leipzig, 1914. 

2 Ibid., p. 53. 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 117 

during the entire period of freedom from their wage-earning employ- 
ment, a somewhat larger food supply would be required. Even these 
additional needs would not justify such an extravagant amount of 
food as is supplied in Institutions Six and Seven. 

The dietaries in these houses show a tendency to an excessiv^e use 
of expensive protein foods. Very few of their residents were at an 
age when protein food was needed for growth, and the majority were 
not engaged in occupations resulting in large muscular development. 
Their bodily needs would have been satisfied with 60 to 70 grams of 
protein per day, instead of the larger amounts supplied in the ma- 
jority of the houses. The investigation was made during the colder 
months of the year, when the large consumption of protein may have 
been prompted by an instinctive desire to profit by its heating quali- 
ties. But few authorities would consider the amounts supplied de- 
sirable, and many would claim that the excess was positively injuri- 
ous. 

Cost of Food. 

One of the chief points upon which information was desired was 
the actual cost of providing food for women living in these organized 
houses. In the attempts to get this information several methods 
were used; the houses were first requested to state the prices charged 
for board alone; second, to furnish data regarding all expenditures 
connected with the food as served; and third, to submit copies of 
their last published financial statements. 

The first method did not give the exact information desired for two 
reasons, — first, because room and board are rated together; second, 
because, in establishing these rates, the same lack of business effi- 
ciency was evinced as was noted in the failure to keep accurate 
records of the quantities of raw materials used. In all of the subsi- 
dized houses there seems to be no definite basis for the rates charged. 
The persons in charge of the houses apparently make the rates agree 
with what they feel the women are able to pay. In a few of the 
houses there is a definite schedule of adjustment between wages and 
prices. Others objected to this arrangement because in the absence 
of accurate information it is difficult to know the wages each resident 
receives. The chief basis of variation in all of the houses is not the 
cost of food but the location, size and number of occupants of each 
room. The varying rates which are charged are shown in Table 48. 



118 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



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FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 119 

When these rates do not cover all expenditures bazaars are held and 
donations solicited to make up the deficit. In the co-operative and 
self-supporting houses the prices charged are reckoned on the total 
expense of maintaining the house. These rates must be large enough 
to cover all expenses. 

The second method of requesting definite data regarding the ex- 
penditures for raw food materials and for light, heat, laundry, service 
and supervision during one week or month proved as unsatisfactory 
as the first. In some of the houses there were no records to show the 
exact amounts expended for raw food materials during any definite 
period. Since there was no segregation in the records of expenses 
chargeable to the dining-room account for light, heat, laundry, etc., 
these amounts were only estimates. While 7 houses furnished all of 
the data, it was felt the information was not sufficiently accurate to 
make deductions possible for all of the houses. 

Owing to the failure to obtain the exact information desired by the 
first and second methods, the plan finally used was to make computa- 
tions from the last published financial statement of each house. The 
only expenditures in these statements which can be chargeable to food 
alone are those for " provisions and supphes." While it is realized that 
these amounts may contain the cost of supplies other than raw food 
materials, they were the only figures available for all of the houses. 
Upon these figures the average cost per person per day of raw food 
materials was calculated. This was done by dividing the amounts 
expended for "provisions and supplies" by the number of meals 
served in each house during the year, as given in the annual reports 
or by estimates made in the case of other houses, when the number 
of meals served was not given in their reports. In making these 
estimates it is assumed that houses serving 3 meals a day would 
serve 1,095 meals to each guest in a year, or when only 15 meals are 
served in a week, that 780 meals would be served to each guest in 
the same period. These factors when multiplied by the number of 
guests and employees give the estimated number of the total meals 
served in one year. While these estimates are fairly accurate, it is 
probable that the actual number of meals served during the year 
reported was somewhat less, since the investigation was made during 
the winter months, when the houses usually have the largest number 
of guests. 

The variations of the cost of raw food materials in the several 



120 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

houses, as is shown by these calculations in Table 48, were found, 
with the exception of Institutions Two and Eighteen, to be very 
slight. Institution Two is a heavily subsidized house, and serves 
somewhat elaborate menus, and Institution Eighteen is a house 
which accommodates students only, and does not serve any meals 
during the summer months when foodstuffs are usually the cheapest. 
These slight variations do not seem to follow any rule. For in- 
stance, in the larger houses where food can be bought in wholesale 
quantities, the raw materials do not cost less per person than in the 
smaller houses. There was no evidence to show whether this indi- 
cates that the smaller houses are more careful of waste or that the 
larger houses serve more expensive foods. 

The average total cost of maintaining each house per capita per 
week was also estimated from these financial statements. This was 
done by dividing the total annual expenditures of the several houses 
by 52 times the number of guests living in each house when visited. 
The results of these calculations will be seen also in Table 48. By 
examining the average cost per capita in the several houses it will be 
noticed, with the exception of Institution Ten, that 2 of the self- 
supporting houses have the least per capita cost. This is no doubt 
due to the fact that the number of guests per employee is larger than 
in any other house, less service being required because the guests 
have a small share of the household duties to perform. 

Since it has been seen that there is little variation in the average 
cost per person of raw food materials in the several houses, the 
variation of the total per capita cost of maintenance is probably due 
to the difference in the amounts expended for service as well as to 
methods of management. The savings, which are supposed to result 
from the advantages gained by dealing with large groups, are not 
evident when a comparison of the per capita cost in the small and 
large houses is made. This may be due in some houses to lack of 
good management, and in others to the fact that the buildings are old 
and do not have modern equipment, thus requiring more service. 

The prices charged by some of the Boston houses, which are sub- 
sidized, are higher than those charged by 6 houses in Chicago and 2 
in New York which are self-supporting. The Chicago houses charge 
from $3 to $5.50 for a room and 15 meals per week. They severally 
accommodate from 60 to 150 women, are self-supporting and pay a 
small return on the investment. One of the New York houses. 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 121 

which accommodates 212 women, charges from S3. 50 to S7 per week 
for a room and 3 meals per day, and is able to cover all expenses. 
The other New York house charges from $4.50 to $7.50 per week for 
room and 2 meals per day, and accommodates 326 guests. Until 
September, 1915, the prices charged by this house ranged from $4 to 
$6; with the advance in the cost of foodstuffs an increase of 50 cents 
per guest per week was found necessary. It is not only self-supporting, 
but pays 4 per cent, interest on the investment. This house and 1 
commercial, the 2 co-operative and 2 self-supporting houses in Bos- 
ton are the only houses of the 39 studied which pay taxes. While the 
price of foodstuffs in Boston is somewhat higher than in New York 
and Chicago,^ it is not clear why 13 of the Boston houses must 
depend on endowments and donations to cover their expenses, when 
the houses just referred to can be self-supporting. 

Serving of Food. 

The variation in the equipment of the houses and the methods of 
serving foods affect both the cost of service and the value of the food 
supplied. Foods attractively served have not only an aesthetic value, 
but a physiological one as well. It is a generally accepted fact that 
attractiveness of service promotes the ease and rapidity of the assimi- 
lation of food by creating a pleasurable anticipation which causes the 
digestive fluids to flow more freely. There are a number of factors 
which influence botb the attractiveness of service and its cost. Of 
these the most important are, first, the location and general appear- 
ance of the dining room; second, the methods of serving the food; 
and third, the time of service. 

The location and general appearance of the dining room in the 
non-commercial houses is too often a secondary consideration. A 
room which is partly below the street level is very difficult to venti- 
late and to light properly. When ventilation is poor and little or no 
sunlight is admitted the room is likely to contain odors of stale 
cooking and to be damp and uninviting. A number of the houses 
have basement dining rooms with long institutional tables, giving 
the room an unattractive and unhomelike appearance. Several of 
the houses, however, have well-ventilated and well-lighted rooms, 
with curtains at the window^s, plants or flowers and clean linen on 
the tables, which are mostly round, seating from 6 to 8 persons. 

» See Table 4. 



122 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

The second factor which plays an important part in this phase of 
the food suppHed is the method of service. The two ways of serving 
food in the Boston houses are individual service and the family 
method. Eleven houses provide individual service at all meals, 
which means that the food is served in the kitchen in separate 
dishes, which are taken by waitresses directly to each guest. This 
insures hot food, but requires more service and more dishes than the 
family method. With two exceptions the latter method is used only 
in the smaller houses, and in 6 of these dinner only is served thus. 
By this method the food is placed by waitresses on the table in large 
dishes from which each person is served by the head. A unique 
method of service is used by a house accommodating 212 women 
which has recently been opened in New York City. In this house 
breakfast and lunch are served cafeteria style and dinner by indi- 
vidual service. At breakfast and lunch each article of food is priced 
separately, and those who pay board by the week are permitted to 
order to the amount of 20 cents for breakfast and 25 cents for lunch. 
Dinner is served in individual servings by waitresses who also act as 
chambermaids, since no dining-room service is required of them at 
breakfast and lunch. 

The third factor is the time during which the meals are served. 
Since all of the women who live in these houses are not engaged in 
the same occupations, their hours for beginning work vary. In order 
to meet as nearly as possible the convenience of the guests, meals are 
served during different periods. Those for breakfast and lunch vary 
from three-fourths of an hour to two hours, and dinner from one to 
one and one-half hours. In 6 of the houses the latter meal is served 
at a stated time, when all guests are supposed to be present and thus 
form a family group. In some places a number of the waitresses are 
students, who give their services for certain hours each day in return 
for their rooms and board. This enables the houses to provide at 
small cost the extra amount of service needed when all guests are 
not served at the same time. 

Factors influencing the Utilization of these Houses. 

The disposition of women to avail themselves of the adequate and 
varied food supplied at such small cost is affected by other considera- 
tions, such as the general accommodations offered; the rules and the 
limitations regarding admission; the recreation provided; and the 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 123 

accommodations for laundry and sewing. Most of the houses are 
attractive and homehke places in which to live. With one exception 
all of the subsidized and co-operative houses furnish both room and 
board. The one exception is a small house for colored women which 
furnishes rooms and a kitchen where cooking may be done. Other 
non-commercial and commercial houses either furnish rooms and a 
restaurant where meals may be secured, or rooms which have light- 
housekeeping accommodations. 

Since most of the subsidized houses were founded by religious 
organizations, or by persons with a religious motive in view, some of 
the rules governing those who may be admitted show traces of this 
influence. While none of the houses has any stipulated religious 
limitations, some of them discriminate against women of certain 
religious behefs, who they feel will not be in sympathy with their 
custom of conducting daily prayers. In two of the smaller houses all 
guests are required to be present at these services; in other houses, 
which follow this custom, attendance is optional. 

Aside from these customs which affect the religious liberties of the 
guests there are other rules which are resented by some. For in- 
stance, many women do not like to feel that they must be in at a 
certain hour in the evening, or explain why they were not in at that 
time. Some of the houses also require all applying for accommoda- 
tions to furnish names of one or more persons who will vouch for 
their good characters. Women who are strangers in the city, or who 
have lived independent lives for some time, dislike to have their 
friends troubled by a request which seems to them unnecessary. The 
fact that a number of the houses are known to be subsidized makes 
some people feel that they are undesirable places in w^hich to live. 
A self-supporting woman does not like to feel that she is a recipient 
of charity. While these conditions are disliked by some, they are 
welcomed by others. There are many young women who come as 
strangers to the city, and are grateful to find a home where such pro- 
tection is offered and a place where living can be secured at such low 
rates. 

Aside from these rather personal feelings regarding the houses 
there are other reasons which limit the women who may live in them. 
With two exceptions the houses aim to reach only young women 
receiving low wages^ Three houses state that they will not take 
women earning over Slo per week; one house will not take any one 



124 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

earning more than SI 2, and another limits its accommodations to 
women earning $7 and less per week. There is an age limit in 4 
houses over which no one will be admitted as a permanent guest. In 
2 houses this is thirty years and in the others thirty-five. 

All of the houses make efforts to furnish some forms of recreation 
for their guests. Most of them provide some sort of a library with 
books, current magazines and daily papers. All have one or more 
parlors where callers may be received, and some of the large houses 
have small parlors which may be engaged in advance. A large room 
or recreation hall is provided where guests may assemble for parties, 
dances or entertainments. In some of the houses amusements are 
furnished as often as once in every two weeks, and in others special 
entertainments and parties are given at least twice a year. 

In addition to the small charge made for room and board there are 
other accommodations which offer the guests opportunities for re- 
ducing the cost of living. All of the houses provide laundries where 
both washing and ironing may be done. Two charge 10 cents and 
one charges 15 cents each time the laundry is used; the others per- 
mit its use free of charge. With one exception all furnish one or 
more sewing machines for free use of the guests. That these accom- 
modations are appreciated is shown by the fact that they are used by 
one-half to three-fourths of the guests. 

Every effort is made by these houses to promote the health of 
their guests. In 3 of them a physician gives his services free or for a 
moderate charge. Four provide a trained nurse; one large house has 
a well-equipped infirmary with trained nurses constantly on duty; 
and all keep medicines for emergencies. 

Conclusions. 

Notwithstanding these facts there are no long waiting lists of 
women desiring admission. As was shown in the early part of the 
chapter the houses when visited were not filled to their capacity, and 
during the summer months the number of vacancies is often quite 
large. With a single room and board to be obtained for S6 and less 
per week, and accommodations which cannot be secured in any pri- 
vate boarding house for the same money, why are these houses not 
flooded with persons desiring admission? No definite answer can be 
given. The fact that most of the houses depend upon their guests or 
other interested persons to inform women of their existence, instead 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 125 

of advertising their accommodations, as well as the rules and limita- 
tions already discussed, may have something to do with their failure 
to attract a larger number of women. 

While the houses should be criticized for the unbusinesslike way 
in which many of them are managed, it must be recognized that they 
have performed a noble service to the working women of Boston. 
The food provided seems to be of a sufficient variety and of an ade- 
quate amount; the accommodations offered cannot be found at the 
prices charged in any private boarding or lodging house; the limita- 
tions explained do not appear unreasonable; and the value of the 
protection offered to young women who come as strangers to the city 
cannot be overestimated. 



126 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



CHAPTER V. 

FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 

The selection of food made by women suffering from preventable 
diseases, generally conceded to be related to diet, is an interesting 
phase of this study of the food of working women. Since the dis- 
pensaries of Boston have educated the public to make use of the 
advantages offered, it seems probable that low-wage women suffering 
from ill health would seek their assistance. The variety and charac- 
ter of the food selected, habits of food consumption, hygienic habits 
and home and work conditions will be considered in their relation to 
the health of these women. 

Patients coming to Dispensaries. 

In order to appreciate the significance of the 126 cases studied in 
detail some consideration of dispensary patients as a group is neces- 

Table 52. — Patients coming to Eight Dispensaries in Boston classified by 
Number of New Patients and Total Number of Visits from All Patients in 
One Year} 



Dispensary. 


Total 

Number 

of 

Visits. 


New 
Patients. 


Total 

Massachusetts General Hospital, Jan. 1, 1915, to Dec. 31, 1915 

Boston Dispensary, Oct. 1, 1914, to Sept. 30, 1915 

Carney Hospital, Dec. 1, 1913, to Nov. 30, 1914, 

Peter Bent Brigham, Jan. 1, 1914, to Dec. 31, 1914 

Mount Sinai Hospital, Jan. 1, 1914, to Dec. 31, 1914 

Cambridge Hospital, Jan. 1, 1915, to Dec. 31, 1915 

Maverick Dispensary, Sept. 1, 1914, to Aug. 31, 1915, . ' 

New England Dispensary for Women and Children, Oct. 1, 1914, to Sept. 30, 1915, 


450,361 

190,627 

122,776 

50,992 

30,434 

27,680 

6,647 

7,044 

14,161 


90,132 

29,213 
25,694 
15,506 
8,347 
5,566 
1,985 
1,960 
1,861 



1 Data obtained from the Fifty-third Annual Report of the New England Hospital for Women and 
Children, its Training School for Nurses and Dispensary, Sept. 20, 1915, p. 30; One Hundred and Second 
Annual Report of the Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital, 1915, Section B, p. 67; Report 
of the One Hundred and Nineteenth Year of the Boston Dispensary, 1916, p. 49; Fifty-first Annual 
Report of Carney Hospital, 1914, p. 20; First Annual Report of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, 1915, 
p. 15; Thirteenth Annual Report of Mount Sinai Hospital, 1915, p. 15; Report of the Trustees of the 
Cambridge Hospital, January, 1916, p. 49; Sixth Annual Report of the Maverick Dispensary, 1915, p. 6. 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



127 



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128 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

sary. The records of the new patients coming to 4 dispensaries dur- 
ing periods of one to eight months were tabulated (Tables 52-57). 
The 9 dispensaries^ in Boston from which cases were selected reach a 
large number of people, as is shown in Table -52. Although the esti- 
mated cost of the service ranges from 33 to 49 cents a visit,- a fee of 
only 10 cents is charged in order to reach the group most in need of 
medical treatment. Wage-earning women formed only one-ninth 
(11.6 per cent.) of the total attendance (Table 54). The high per- 
centage of Russian Jews and others of foreign birth, shown in Table 
55, makes it evident that nationality is an important consideration in 
discussing the diet of this group. The largest proportion were young, 
unmarried women engaged in manufacturing pursuits (Table 56). 
Cases for this study were found in the medical departments (Table 
57). About one-third (36.7 per cent.) of the women coming to the 
dispensaries were referred to the medical departments, and the sev- 
eral occupation groups were proportionately represented in this num- 
ber. Women in domestic service who were not included in this study 
formed two-fifths (40.4 per cent.) of the attendance at the medical 
departments. 

Scope and Method of the Study.^ 

Some 20,000 records covering periods ranging from three to six 
months for each of the 9 dispensaries were examined. From these 
records 192 cases of women in industry suffering from preventable 
diseases possibly complicated by diet were selected for further study. 
Sixty-six of these cases were not included in this study, as 51 could 
not be located and 15 were not pertinent. By personal visits infor- 
mation was obtained from 126 women. In these interviews 2 schedules 
were used, — the first concerning the food, the second, an inquiry 
into social and industrial conditions.^ Information for form of in- 
quiry No. 5, as well as menus for two days, were obtained at the 
time of the interview. The method of keeping this food schedule 

' All dispensaries in Boston were visited, though complete records were available only from these 9 
dispensaries. 

- Massachusetts General Hospital, One Hundred and Second Annual Report of the Trustees, 1915, 
Section B, p. 22; Mount Sinai Hospital, Thirteenth Annual Report, 1915, p. 15; Peter Bent Brigham 
Hospital, First Annual Report, 1915, p. 16. 

' For forms of inquiry, see Appendix A, Nos. 5 and 6. 

* The questions on the second schedule were suggested by the one used in a study made by the Massa- 
chusetts General Hospital of the hygienic conditions of working girls who came as patients to the hos- 
pital. All unmarried girls under twenty-one (80) who came to the medical department during eight 
months were studied. Sixth Annual Report of the Social Service Department of the Massachusetts 
General Hospital, 1912. 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



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FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



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132 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

was explained to the woman so that she could fill in a similar blank 
for the five days remaining in the week. Over half (51.6 per cent.) 
completed the menu for five or more days, and more than three- 
fourths (78.5 per cent.) of this number finished the week, making in 
all reports of 1,703 meals. 

Difficulties peculiar to this subject arose from the necessity of ex- 
plaining the reasons for the inquiries concerning the food to ignorant 
and suspicious women, persuading them to keep their menus for a 
week, and from the personal nature of the questions which had to be 
asked often in the presence of persons of varying ages and both 
sexes. The inability to write English prevented the completion of 
the food schedules in some instances. 

Characteristics of the Patients Studied. 

The group selected for further study resembled the wage-earning 
women in the total dispensary group in age, occupation and nation- 
ality. These 126 patients were largely young women, native born or 
Russian Jewesses, engaged in manufacturing pursuits. The average 
age, twenty-two years (21.9), represented the trend for the group, 
since four-fifths (79.4 per cent.) were under twenty-five years of age 
(Table 58). One-half (50.8 per cent.) were native born. One-tenth 
(10.3 per cent.) of the total number were native born of native 
parents; one-third (33.3 per cent.), native born of foreign parents; 
and one-fifteenth (7.2 per cent.), native born of mixed parentage. 
More than one-fifth (21 per cent.) of the foreign born had been in this 
country two years or less, and one-half (56.5 per cent.) for five years 
or less. Although the majority were in the semi-skilled manufacturing 
occupations, the clerical, selling and telephone operating positions of 
one-fourth (29.4 per cent.) demand skill and a higher degree of intelli- 
gence. Their weekly wages ranged from $3 to $14.50, with an aver- 
age for the group of less than $8 ($7.77) (Table 59). Telephone oper- 
ating had the highest average wage, almost $10 ($9.97), clerical work 
slightly over $9 ($9.10), selling and manufacturing occupations be- 
tween $7 and $8 ($7.50 and $7.43), and the miscellaneous personal 
service occupations less than $6.50 ($6.30). It is quite apparent that 
the majority of these women could make no provision from their 
earnings for private medical care. While their homes were located in 
all parts of Boston, living conditions did not vary greatly. Seven- 
eighths (87.3 per cent.) lived as part of their own families, 91 with 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



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>j 
































<; 


































o 


































1- 


00 




i 


o 


CO 
C-J 


t~ 


' 


1 




•^ 
t- 


CO 

CO 


00 
CM 


-^ 


o 


CM 




































E- 


































z 




m 






























e 


































S 




a 






























E- 




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C3 

< 






























a. 
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3 


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o 

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3 

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3 

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134 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



Table 58. — Distribution by Age and Nativity of One Hundred and Twenty-six 

Dispensary Patients. 



Birthplace. 



Total, 



United States, . 

Russia, 

Canada, 

Ireland, 

Italy, 

Other foreign countries, ' 



Total. 



Num- 
ber. 



126 

64 
49 
5 
2 
2 
4 



Per 
Cent. 



100.0 

50.8 
38.9 
3.9 
1.6 
1.6 
3.2 



16 

Years 
and 

under 
21. 



Number of Patients — 



21 

Years 

and 

under 

25. 



25 

Years 
and 

under 
30. 



30 

Years 
and 

under 
35. 



35 

Years 

and 

under 

40. 



One each from Austria, Azores, Barbadoes, Portugal. 



Table 59. — Distribution by Occupation and Wage of One Hundred and Ticenty- 

six Dispensary Patients. 



Weekly Wages. 


Total. 


Manufac- 
turing. 


Clerical. 


Selling. 


Telephone 
Operating. 


Miscella- 
neous. 


Total 


126 


86 


16 


14 


7 


3 


Less than $5, . . . 


3 


1 


- 


2 




- 


S5 and less than S6, 


16 


14 


- 


1 


- 


1 


$6 and less than S7, . 


27 


23 


2 


1 


- 


1 


S7 and less than $8, . 


19 


17 


- 


1 


- 


1 


$8 and less than $9, . 


19 


9 


5 


4 


1 


- 


$9 and less than $10, . 


11 


5 


2 


2 


2 


- 


SIO and less than $12, 


18 


10 


4 


- 


4 


- 


$12 and less than $14, 


6 


3 


2 


1 


- 


- 


$14 and more, 


2 


2 


- 


- 


- 


- 


Not reported. 


5 


2 


1 


2 


- 


- 



their fathers or mothers or both, 16 with other relatives, and 3 were 
married and living in homes of their own. The 16 Hving with stran- 
gers formed part of the family group in most instances. 

These women were suffering from a variety of diseases of which 
constipation was the most prevalent (Table 60). Nearly two-fifths 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



135 



(38.1 per cent.) were suffering from constipation, 17 (17.4) per cent, 
from a run-down condition, 16 (15.9) per cent, from debility, 15 
(15.1) per cent, from digestive disorders and 13 (13.5) per cent, from 
ansemia. The appearance of these women was so influenced by racial 
characteristics that it was difficult for the casual observer to discern 
the effect of the different disorders. Recent arrivals from Russia 
remarked on their loss of weight, poor color and trouble with their 
teeth since leaving the old country. Of all the immigrants the Rus- 
sians, who formed the greatest proportion of the foreign-born women 
studied, seemed least able to adapt themselves physically to the 
changed conditions. 



Table 60. — Occupations and Dispensary Diagnoses of One Hundred and 

Twenty-six Patients. 





Total. 




Number 


OF Patients in — 














Diagnoses. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

Cent. 


Manu- 
factur- 
ing. 


Clerical. 


Selling. 


Tele- 
phone 
Oper- 
ating. 


Miscella- 
neous. ' 


Total, 

Constipation, 
Run-down condition, . 

Debility 

Digestive disorders, 
Anmmia, .... 


126 

48 
22 
20 
19 
17 


100.0 

38.1 
17.4 
15.9 
15.1 
13.5 


86 

34 
15 
10 
16 
11 


16 

6 
3 

4 

1 
2 


14 

6 
4 
4 


7 

2 

1 
2 
2 


3 

1 
2 



Food eaten in One Week. 

For the purposes of this study the 1,703 meals were reduced for 
each person to the food eaten in one week.^ The unit of measure- 
ment was the number of times any article of food occurs during this 
week, making the total variety the sum of the different articles of 
food. Since the use of tea and coffee was subject to extreme varia- 
tions, these beverages were excluded from the total variety of food. 
Percentages were used to indicate the proportion any food forms of 
the total variety. The classification of food was a convenient one 
suggested by Dr. C. F. Langworthy.^ 

' Theatre usher, hairdresser, salad maker. 

2 See Appendix C for method of tabulation. 

' See Appendix C for discussion of the limitations of this plan of classification. 



136 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 






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FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



137 



CJ5 



^ ?= 






S &H 









6^ 



n 



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w 

g 

§ 

n 

a 

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B 

< 
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D 

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a 

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z 




CO 


t^ ■* t^ -- C^J 


12; -^ 





r^ 00 — 00 cr- 


CO 

w 



fee 


00 


CO -^ CO t^ 




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•* t^ CO M< CO 


03 




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^0 


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« 01 t^ ,< « 
CO ■*■«<■ t-.; to 


P 


CO 


10 CO — c Tf 
« CJ c^ UO M^ 






:^ 


-- CO c^ 
«n •* CO •* (m' 


1- 


CO 


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c<i e<i r-i CO »-< 


< 
S 


^6 


CO 


« CO 

'-* -^ to CO -^ 


3 Oj 


CO 


4.6 
7.6 
9.7 
9.4 
10.1 


i? 
ii 


|i 


"*! 


•* t^ 00 rH U5 





1- 





-- CO C-l CO 


MUT- 
TON. 

Num- 
ber. 





CO CO >o 


K 

0. 


1- 


in 


C-. ro -H 00 




Si; 

1- 


00 

CO 


■^ Ci CO -^ GO 
^ CO -^ ^ CO 


< 

E- - 



11 




CO 


22.3 
26.2 
25.0 
20.1 
21.8 


|i 


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9.4 
14.2 
16.0 
18.7 
18.7 


i 
|2 


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6 
C 

n 
12 


a 

i. 

<; 




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Less than 50, . 
50 and less than 60, 
60 and less than 70, 
70 and less than 80, 
80 and more, . 



138 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

Taking the average for all schedules, the total variety of food for 
a week was 61 (60.7) items, as shown in Table 61, classified as foods 
characterized by proteins, carbohydrates and minerals, and a miscel- 
laneous group consisting of soups, milk or cocoa and pickles. ]\Ieats, 
fish, eggs and all other protein foods constituted one-fourth (24.8 per 
cent.) of this variety. The median variety was 15 times a week; in 
other words, there were as many women Having a greater variety of 
proteins than this as there were having a smaller. The usual fre- 
quency was twice a day. The average distribution of the items com- 
posing this group (Table 62) indicated meat 8 (8.2) times, fish twice 
(2.3), eggs 3 times (3.1), beans once (1), and cheese less than once 
(.5) a week. In the case of meat the predominant number of times a 
week was 7, or once a day. Since meat was the one item in very 
general use, and since eggs, fish, cheese and beans are often used in- 
terchangeably, it was not to be expected that all of the schedules 
would include all of these items. ]More than one-third (34.9 per 
cent.) of the menus for a week were without eggs, two-fifths (38.9 
per cent.) without fish, two-thirds (64.3 per cent.) without beans, 
and three-fourths (77.8 per cent.) without cheese. 

Breads, cereals and all other foods characterized by carbohydrates 
formed two-fifths (38.1 per cent.) of the variety for the week (Table 
63). While the average tor the week was 23 times, or slightly more 
than once a meal, there was a tendency to have one of these foods at 
every meal. Of those who departed from this rule there Avere as 
many who served more than one article of carbohydrate food at a 
meal as there were who served less. The most important article of 
food in this group, bread, was used an average of 17 (16.7) times a 
week. The other articles showed smaller averages. Three-fifths 
(57.9 per cent.) of the group used no cereals, six-sevenths (84.9 per 
cent.) no macaroni, three-sevenths (42.9 per cent.) no cake, two-thirds 
(69.8 per cent.) no desserts, and the same proportion (68.3 per cent.) 
no pastry. 

Vegetables and fruits formed one-fifth (21 per cent.) of the average 
weekly variety (Table 64). They were eaten less than twice a day 
(12.7 times a week). The composition of this group in the various 
food schedules was influenced by individual preferences. Potatoes 
were eaten by four-fifths (81 per cent.), fruit by five-sevenths (71.4 
per cent.), other vegetables by five-ninths (56.3 per cent.), and salads 
by less than one-twelfth (7.9 per cent.) of the women reporting. 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



139 



0= 



s. 


.'■^ 


J-. 


Q 


«s 


« 


ITll 


•fo 








p 


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bs 



5:3 g 









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fc. 



< 









L- -^^ 


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00 


OJ 


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c^ 








K 




















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05 
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ft. 




































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S a z> 
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00 



140 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

Potatoes were used an average of 5 (4.7) times, other vegetables 3 
(2.6) times, fresh fruit 4 (4.2) times, and stewed fruit once (1.1) a 
week. 

Foods characterized by protein, carbohydrates and minerals formed 
five-sixths (83.9 per cent.) of the total number of items eaten in a 
week. Soups, milk, cocoa and pickles formed the remaining sixth 
(16.1 per cent.) (Table 61). Pickles were an item of little impor- 
tance, since less than one-tenth (9.5 per cent.) of the women used 
them. Soup was served at 4 (3.8) meals, and milk and cocoa at 6 
(5.9) meals during a week. The somewdiat extensive use of cocoa and 
milk is to be attributed, no doubt, to advice received at the dispensa- 
ries. The 67 women who used cocoa drank it about once a day (6.4 
times a week), and the 58 women who used milk drank it about 5 
(5.3) times a week. 

Although this analysis shows a considerable variety for the aver- 
age, there was a decided monotony in the diet of the individual 
women, since bread, meat and potatoes were the only items occurring 
in practically every menu. Some women, on the other hand, had a 
considerably greater variety than the average. The fluctuations 
show no connection with the nationality or type of disease, as the 
average variety for the three nationality groups (Table 65) dift'ered 
by less thaji 3 items, and the groups with the varied disorders had 
practically the same average variety of food. In a general way an 
increased range of food seemed to accompany an upward trend in 
wages. Since these women live as part of a family group the rela- 
tionship was not always consistent. A decided increase appeared in 
the number of times in a week items of food were chosen by women 
w^hose work required more training and intelligence. Less than one- 
sixth (15.6 per cent.) of the women in the semi-skilled occupations, 
with an average weekly wage of $7.39, had more than 70 items of 
food in a week, while almost one-half (45.9 per cent.) of the women 
in the more sliilled positions, with an average weekly wage of S8.71, 
had this variety. Perhaps the better occupations of the women were 
due to higher family standards, and these standards also determined 
the wider range of food. 

Some analysis of the character of this greater variety may prove 
interesting. Did the increasing number of items take the form of a 
repetition of staple articles or the addition of what might be called 
luxuries? The menus were composed largely of the staple foods; the 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



141 



W CO 



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to 




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142 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



C5 



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P4 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 143 

so-called extras, such as desserts, cakes, pastry and salads, formed 
but one-twentieth (4.9 per cent.) of the total variety when less than 
60 items were consumed in the week. (Tables 63 and 64.) The 
protein, mineral and carbohydrate groups were used a greater num- 
ber of times in the increasing ranges until the average variety became 
72 items. At this point the appetite for protein and carbohydrate 
food seemed to be satisfied. The use of vegetables other than pota- 
toes, fresh fruit, milk and cocoa more than doubled when the total 
variety increased from an average of 72 to 86 (85.8) items for a week. 
The marked differences in the diets of the three nationality groups, 
designated for convenience as the English speaking, non-English 
speaking and Russian, as shown in Table 65, were the greater use of 
brefads, cereals, cakes, desserts and pastry in the English speaking, 
the lack of vegetables in the Russian, and the extensive use of soup, 
milk and cocoa by the non-English speaking and Russian groups. 
Although the Russians used fresh fruit oftener than either of the 
other groups this did not compensate for the lack of vegetables. 
There was a striking similarity in the number of times protein foods 
were used in the three groups (Table 66), but the distribution of 
the items within the group differed. The average Russian diet in- 
cluded meat once a day (7 times a week), fish every other day (3.7 
times a week), eggs three (3.1) times a week. The English and 
non-English groups used meat 9 (9.3) times, fish once (1), eggs three 
(3.1) times and beans once (1.2 and 1.9) a week. Cheese formed a 
small portion of any diet. Beef and chicken were practically the only 
meats used by the Russian Jews, while the other nationalities showed 
a fair proportion of all meats, with beef predominating. The Eng- 
lish-speaking group consumed more cereals, cakes, desserts and pas- 
try. Sweets of any kind were practically lacking in the Russian 
diet. Cereals, a cheap form of carbohydrate food containing the val- 
uable vitamines, were little used by any group. Perhaps the unwise 
clinging to Old World standards under New World industrial condi- 
tions occasioned the disorders of nutrition from which so many of 
the Russian Jewesses were suffering. Fats were lacking in the Rus- 
sian diet. Adherence to the Jewish religion prevented the use of 
butter when meat was served, and prohibited the use of such fatty 
meats as bacon and salt pork. The high protein diet of the Russians, 
well adapted to outdoor work, was not modified by the increased 



144 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 









S .- 



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FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



145 



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146 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

consumption of bread or cereals and vegetables. The effect of this 
lack of vegetables is so evident in the case of the Russians that it is 
a common sajdng at dispensaries that it would be safe to prescribe 
Russian oil for every patient of that nationality. Constipation is so 
generally recognized to be the cause of other disorders that the results 
of its prevalence among such a large group of women workers are 
very far-reaching. 

Since more than three-fifths (63,3 per cent.) of the Russians stud- 
ied had constipation, the similarity between the diet of the women 
suffering from constipation and the Russian diet was to be expected 
(Tables 65 and 69). In comparison with that of the women suffering 
from other diseases, the diet of the constipation cases consisted of a 
higher proportion of protein foods, a much larger proportion of liquid 
foods, soup, milk, cocoa, and a smaller proportion of vegetables, all 
of which were directly conducive to constipation. It was often ig- 
norance that led to an aggravation of this trouble, because as soon as 
the symptoms appeared some of the Russian women began consuming 
boiled milk and soups and omitting solid food in the hope of regain- 
ing their normal health. 

The small use of water, as estimated by the women interviewed, 
perhaps explains this prevalence of constipation among some of 
them. The usual number of glasses of water a day, from 1 to 2 for 
the constipation group, was hardly enough to cleanse their systems, 
and from 2 to 3 glasses for the women with other disorders was 
slightly better. Tea, coffee, milk, cocoa were substituted for water 
to an equal extent in each group. A general feeling existed that it 
was a hardship to drink water except in the summer. One reason 
given was that cold water hurt the teeth, which was pertinent, since 
almost half (48.7 per cent.) of the women complained of the poor 
condition of their teeth. A second reason for not drinking more 
water was found in the statement of several women that the drinking 
of water between meals necessitated leaving their work at intervals 
during the day, and piece workers in particular did not wish to lose 
the time. 

These causes of the prevalence of constipation were substantiated 
by the findings of Dr. J. W. Schereschewsky in a study of the health 
of garment workers in New York City. More than one-fourth 
(26.8 per cent.) of the 1,000 women examined were suffering from 
chronic constipation. More than one-fifth (22.6 per cent.) had de- 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



147 



CO ^ 






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148 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 






^C5 



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o 1 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 149 

fective teeth. '^ The causes for this large proportion suffering from 
constipation were summarized as follows:^ — 

In addition to purely occupational conditions, such as defective posture and 
the sitting position which favor habitual constipation, it would seem that certain 
dietetic factors in the case of garment workers predispose to this condition. 

The use of green vegetables and fresh fruit among garment workers was small, 
and milk was very generally drunk, especially at lunch time. Perhaps, however, 
the most important personal factor in inducing this condition was the very 
general neglect on the part of garment workers of forming regular habits of 
defecation. Leaving their homes for their work hurriedly in the morning, the 
visit to the toilet is put off for some more convenient time, and is too often 
forgotten in the stress of work at the shop. 

The data collected for the study seemed to disprove the common 
assumption that women suffering from unwise selections of food are 
excessive users of tea and coffee. Since over half (50.8 per cent.) of 
the women omit coffee and one-fourth (23 per cent.) tea, the average 
for those drinking these beverages is once a day (6.7 times a week) 
for coffee and 8 (8.4) times a week for tea. 

With a few exceptions the excessive use of candy very evidently 
has little connection with the ill health of these women, since less 
than one-eighth (12.5 per cent.) reported regular consumption of this 
confection. 

The use of the average in this food discussion resulted in the 
shortcomings of one menu correcting to a certain extent the short- 
comings of others. This average shows the family standard of living 
of a low wage, predominantly immigrant group. The monotonous 
diet of bread, meat and potatoes, prepared with little knowledge of 
skillful cookery, characterized in general the choice of food of this 
group. There were, however, striking variations among the menus 
submitted, as are shown in the accompanying samples. 

A twenty-year-old telephone operator, native born of Irish parents, 
suffering from stomach trouble, reported Menu I., and a twenty- two- 
year-old Russian Jewess who had been in this country for eight 
years, a bowmaker in a candy factory, with the prevalent disorder, 
constipation, reported Menu II. The total varieties differ by but 
one item, and approximate the average variety for the group. The 

' United States Public Health Service, Bulletin No. 71, May, 1915, Studies in Vocational Diseases, 
I., The Health of Garment Workers, by J. W. Schereschewsky, p. 55. 
2 Ibid, p. 64. 



150 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



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FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



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152 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



monotony of diet, absence of sweets, mineral foods and the abun- 
dance of liquid foods, as indicated by the average for the Russian 
group, were repeated in Menu 11. Seven kinds of protein food — 
eggs, fish, beef, pork, larnb, chicken and beans — were eaten 18 times 
in all; cake, desserts and pastry 12 times; potatoes 10 times; other 
vegetables twice; soup twice; and milk once a week in Menu I., while 
3 protein foods — chicken, eggs and liver — were eaten 15 times; no 
sweets or desserts; potatoes once; soup 8 times; and cocoa and milk 
16 times a week in Menu II. The use of butter was not consistently 
mentioned in either of the menus, but it is fair to assume that it was 
used more frequently in Menu I. than in Menu II., where it had to 
be omitted at 7 meals, every time meat was used. 



Menu I. 





Breakfast. 


Lunch. 


Supper. 


Monday, .... 


Coffee. 
Oatmeal. 
Ham omelet. 
Toast. 


Escalloped potatoes. 
Chicken sandwich. 
Bread pudding. 
Milk. 
Custard pie. 


Lamb chop. 

Baked potato. 

Toast. 

Tea. 

Hot biscuit. 


Tuesday, .... 


Boiled eggs. 
Tea. 
Toast. . 


Ham. 

Potatoes. 

Turnips. 


Cold ham. 

Cake. 

Bread and butter. 

Tea. 


Wednesday, 


Farina. 

Toast. 

Tea. 


Stewed tomatoes. 
Rolls. 

Coffee jelly. 
Tea. 


Beefsteak. 
Baked potatoes. 
Tea. 
Cake. 


Thursday, 


2 eggs. 

Muffins. 

Tea. 


Curried lamb. 
Boiled potato. 
Rice pudding. 


Veal cutlets. 

Baked potato. 

Tea. 

Hot muffins. 


Friday, .... 


3 fish cakes. 

Coffee. 

Toast. 


Fish chowder. 

Tea. 

Pie. 


Baked stuffed had- 
dock. 
Boiled potato. 
Tea. 
Cake. 


Saturday, 


2 lamb chops. 

Bread. 

Tea. 


Beans. 
Rolls. 

Prune jelly. 
Tea. 
Muffins. 


Ham. 

Boiled potato. 

Tea. 

Cake. 


Sunday 


Beefsteak. 

Toast. 

Coffee. 


Beefsteak. 

French fried potatoes. 

Coffee. 

Pie. 


Chicken soup. 
Roast pork. 
Mashed potato. 
Whipped cream pie. 
Tea. 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



153 





Menu 11. 






Breakfast. 


Lunch. 


Supper. 


Monday, .... 


Egg. 
Milk. 
Oatmeal. 


Bread and butter. 
Milk. 


Chicken. 

Soup. 

Bread. 


Tuesday, .... 


2 eggs. 

Milk. 

Bread. 


Bread and butter. 
Milk. 


Chicken. 

Soup. 

Bread. 


Wednesday, 


Malted milk. 
2 boiled eggs. 
Bread and butter. 


Bread and butter. 
Milk. 


Milk. 
Soup. 
Chicken. 
Bread. 


Thursday, 


Malted milk. 
2 boiled eggs. 
Bread and butter. 


Bread and butter. 
Milk. 


Potatoes. 

Cream. 

Bread and butter. 

Milk. 


Friday, .... 


2 boiled eggs. 
Bread and butter. 
Milk. 


Chicken. 

Soup. 

Bread. 


Chicken. 

Soup. 

Crackers. 


Saturday, 


1 egg. 
Milk. 
Crackers. 


Chicken. 

Soup. 

Bread. 


Cream. 

Bread and butter. 

Tea. 


Sunday 


Bread and butter. 

Potatoes. 

Cocoa. 


Chopped liver. 
Chicken. 
Soup. 
Bread. 


2 boiled eggs. 
Bread and butter. 
Milk. 



Service of Food. 

It is generally admitted that the preparation and service of food 
are quite as important as the quality and selection of the food itself 
in aiding its digestion. The meals of these working women were 
hastily served, with slight formality and interspersed with little con- 
versation. The usual time consumed in eating the meals, estimated 
in all cases by the women themselves, was from ten td twenty min- 
utes for breakfast and from fifteen to thirty minutes each for lunch 
and supper. There are various reasons why the meal periods were so 
curtailed. In general, the breakfast period was more hurried for the 
70 (69.8) per cent, of the women who had to be at work before 8 
o'clock than for those reporting at work later. When the lunch 
period was lengthened to forty-five minutes or an hour the women 
ate in a more leisurely fashion. The desire to have longer evenings 
for the movies, night school at 7.15 o'clock, and the meal habits of 
the families all tended to shorten the supper period. 

The collection of the schedules at supper time revealed the manner 
of serving that meal. It was the common procedure for each person 
to get his or her food, which the mother served from the stove, and 



154 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

to sit down to eat at the partially set table, regardless of any other 
members of the family. 

Conditions were not more conducive to pleasant, social noon meals 
for two-thirds (66.7 per cent.) of the women who ate their lunches 
at work. One-fourth (26.2 per cent.) of the women went home because 
of a preference for a hot, though hurried, meal. Only 9 of the 126 
w^omen regularly bought their lunches. Eating was evidently a dis- 
agreeable duty, to be performed as quickly as possible, with no pleasur- 
able anticipation or real relaxation from the strain of work. 

Certain irregularities in the distribution of the meals in the day 
had a bad effect upon the health of a few women. Three-fourths 
(75.4 per cent.) had a normal distribution of from ten to twelve hours 
between breakfast and supper, with the lunch period making a fairly 
even break. Five women having irregular meals, and 4 machine 
operators and 1 candy dipper, who worked from eight to nine and 
one-half hours a day, regularly omitted breakfast because they had 
no appetite so early in the morning. They did not realize the possi- 
ble connection between their persistent tired feeling and this post- 
ponement of the first meal until noon. Irregular meal periods, caused 
by intermittent changes of working hours or widely separated daily 
shifts of work, were reported as the cause of their lack of appetite 
and poor health by 3 women. Working hours extending until 10, 11 
and 12 o'clock at night, necessitating meals at extremely irregular 
hours, were alleged to be the cause of ill health by 3 other workers. 

Economic Status. 

The quality of the food depends on the intelligence as well as the 
income of the family, and these together indicate the standard of 
living. The economic status of the families as shown by the number 
of persons, including the wage earners themselves, sharing the income 
of each wage earner, is given in Table 73. Only members of the fam- 
ily gainfully employed were included as wage earners. The average 
number of persons for each wage earner was about 2 (1.98) for the 
total group, slightly less (1.93 to 1.94) for the English-speaking and 
Russian groups, and higher (2.09) for the non-English speaking 
group. The number dependent upon each wage earner in the fami- 
lies ranged from 1 to 5 persons. The families consisted of from 2 to 
12 persons, the most common number being 6. When only a few 
shared the income of one wage earner the family was usually mature, 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



155 



and the financial strain was lessened accordingly. If the wages of 
the women themselves were indicative of the standards of their fam- 
ilies, the status of the non-English and Russian groups was lower 
than that of the English-speaking group, since the average wage for 
the women in each group was S7.39, $7.62 and $8.07, respectively. 
It was customary for the children to enter industry at an early age. 
More than one-half (54.8 per cent.) of the workers interviewed had 
begun to work before they were sixteen, and seven-eighths (86.5 per 
cent.) before they were eighteen, years of age. In the 110 families 
where the women formed part of their own family groups, one-third 
(34.3 per cent.) of the wage earners were the women themselves; 20 



Table 73. — Economic Status of the Families of One Hundred and Twenty-six 

Dispensary Patients. 



Nativity of Parents. 



Total, 

English-speaking countries, . 

Non-English speaking coun- 
tries (excluding Russia). 
Russia, . . . . . 



Total. 



126 

50 
16 
60 



Women 
adrift. 



Families in which the Average 

NcMBER OF Persons dependent upon Each 

Wage Earner was — 



1 and 

less 

than 2. 



2 and 

less 

than 3. 



3 and 

less 
than 4. 



4 and 

less 

than 5. 



5 and 

less 

than 6. 



(19.6) per cent., their sisters; 19 (18.7) per cent., their brothers; 17 
(17.1) per cent., their fathers; 2 (2.2) per cent., their mothers; and 8 
(8.1) per cent., other relatives. Sixty-eight fathers were living; of 
these, 55 were working, 15 were in business or professional, though 
not high-paid, positions, such as Jewish teachers, storekeepers and 
charcoal salesmen, and 40 were in manual occupations. Seven 
mothers worked, — 3 day workers, 2 midwives, 1 machine operator 
and 1 boarding-house keeper. In the effort to supplement the family 
income 9 families kept 1 lodger and 1 family kept 2 lodgers. No 
effort was made to ascertain family incomes, but the general status of 
the family in respect to the number of wage earners, the occupations 
of the parents, coupled with the fact that the average weekly earn- 
ings of the women interviewed were less than $8 ($7.77), indicated 
that the family incomes were small. 



156 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



Living Conditions. 

The living conditions probably had a definite influence upon the 
health of these women. All but 11 lived in tenements,^ but under very 
diverse conditions; some had 2 rooms for each person; in others, the 
average was 3 persons for each room. One-sixth (16.7 per cent.) lived 
in overcrowded homes, or those where there were more than 1.5 per- 
sons for each room.^ This crowded condition was more evident 
among the non-English and Russian people than among the English- 
speaking group. Thirty per cent, of the homes had no bathtubs. 

In connection with housing conditions in general, sleeping arrange- 
ments are important in preserving health. Only 13 of the 126 women 
reported sleeping with the windows shut, but it was reasonable to 
assume from the general conditions of the homes that the ventila- 
tion was inadequate in numerous other cases. Only 2 women slept 
in an alcove where the ventilation was dependent on the windows in 
other rooms. More than one-third (34.1 per cent.) roomed alone, 
one-half (52.4 per cent.) shared a room with 1 other, and one-eighth 
(13.5 per cent.) with 2 others. An unexpectedly large proportion 
(40.5 per cent.) had no bedfellows, over half (56.3 per cent.) but 1, 
and only 3 (3.2) per cent., 2 bedfellows. While the hours of sleep 
varied from seven to eleven, almost half (49.2 per cent.) had from 
eight to nine hours, which is commonly supposed to be sufficient; one- 
fifth (22.6 per cent.) had less and one-fourth (28.2 per cent.) more 
than this usual amount. A number of the women (29.6 per cent.) 
complained of sleeping poorly, no doubt because of their physical 
condition. 

The condition of the teeth explained the prevalence of liquid food, 
and the poor mastication and digestion of solid foods. Almost half 
(48.7 per cent.) reported that they needed dental work; the majority 
of these had postponed this treatment for financial reasons. Three- 
fourths (77.2 per cent.) cleaned their teeth once a day, but 7 (7.3) 
per cent, failed to maintain this minimum standard. 

The lack of even the usual standard of cleanliness accounted for 
the prevalence of petty disorders. More than one-fifth (22.6 per 
cent.) of the workers interviewed had less than one bath a week, 

' As defined in Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts, 1913, chapter 786, Part I. 

2 Chapin, Robert Coit: The Standard of Living among Workingmen's Families in New York City. 
1909, pp. 80, 81. 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 157 

almost half (47.8 per cent.) but one a week, and only one-fourth 
(29.6 per cent.) more than one a week. The absence of adequate 
facilities partially explained this seeming aversion to bathing, al- 
though some Russian immigrants, in particular, were afraid of taking 
cold by bathing in the winter. 



Relation of Industry to Health. 

The effect of industrial overstrain upon the health of the women 
workers would lead to disorders of nutrition, since digestion is one of 
the first bodily functions to suffer in exhaustion. ^ The occupations 
of the women studied, classified by the types of work and the weekly 
hours of work, are shown in Table 74. Half (50.8 per cent.) of the 
total group interviewed worked from fifty to fifty-five hours a week, 
the legal limit being fifty-four hours, one-third (32.5 pea cent.) from 
forty-five to fifty hours, and the remainder less than forty-five 
hours. The strain in manufacturing pursuits caused by piecework, 
machine operating, noise, speed and monotony was further increased 
by long hours, since three-fifths (61.6 per cent.) of the women em- 
ployed in manufacturing worked the legal limit or a few hours less, 
and almost one- third (31.4 per cent.) worked from forty-five to fifty 
hours a week. The strain caused by the complexity and speed in the 
telephone service was relieved, to some extent, by the shorter hours, 
since forty-eight hours in any week was the longest period worked by 
the telephone operators included in this study. The majority of the 
women in clerical and selling positions worked less than fifty hours a 
week. These occupations at times necessitated working under a 
nervous strain, and saleswomen stood the greater part of the day. 
Machine operating employed one-fifth (22.2 per cent.) of the 126 
workers, and half of the machine operators (53.6 per cent.) were 
piece workers, thus combining the nervous tension caused by running 
the high-speed power machines with that brought on by piecework. 
The majority of those doing hand work in manufacturing pursuits 
(33.3 per cent, of the total group) were time workers. Only 14 of the 
126 women reported overtime. 

The weekly hours of work indicated time actually spent in the 
factory, store or office, as the case might be, but gave no idea of the 
time that must be devoted to work, which would include that spent 

' Goldmark, Josephine: Fatigue and Efficiency, 1912, Vol. I., pp. 283, 284. 



158 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



in coming to and returning from work and the lunch period. Using 
the entire working time as a basis, almost half (46 per cent.) of the 
women interviewed had to devote from ten to eleven hours each day 
to work, one-fourth (28.6 per cent.) from nine to ten, one-sixth (15.1 
per cent.) from eleven to twelve, and most of the others less than 
nine hours. 

These hours were not so long on Saturdays in the case of 69 women 
who stopped work at 12 or 1 o'clock, and 2 women who took all day 
Saturday for rest. In the summer months 3 other women had a half 



Table 74. — Weekly Hours of Work in Different Occupations reported by One 
Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients. 





Total. 


Women working Specified Number 
OF Hours. 


Occupations. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
Cent. 


Less 
than 

40 
Hours. 


40 

Hours 

and less 

than 

45. 


45 

Hours 

and less 

than 

50. 


50 

Hours 

and less 

than 

55. 


Irreg- 
ular. 


Total 


126 


100.0 


6 


10 


41 


64 


5 


All manufacturing, .... 


86 


68.2 


1 


3 


27 


53 


2 


Clothing: — 
Machine operators, . 
Hand workers 


20 
17 


15.9 
13.5 


1 


_ 




16 
11 


2 


other manufacturing: — 
Machine operators, 
Hand workers, . . . . 
Packers, examiners, errand girls. 
Forewomen, .... 


8 

25 
13 

3 


6.3 
19.8 
10.3 

2.4 


- 


2 
1 


12 
1 


4 
11 
10 

1 


- 


Clerical 


16 


12.7 


2 


4 




5 


1 


Selling 


14 


11.1 


2 


- 


6 


5 


1 


Telephone operating, 


7 


5.6 


- 


3 


3 


- 


- 


Miscellaneous occupations. 


3 


2.4 


- 


- 


1 


1 


1 



holiday and 6 others the whole day. Since half (50.4 per cent.) of 
the workers walked to and from their work, about three-sevenths 
(42.3 per cent.) rode, and the others (7.3 per cent.) walked one way, 
part of this time consumed in walking to and from work might be 
called exercise. 

The nervous strain of shifting from one position to another is quite 
as exhaustive as work itself. Almost one- third (31.2 per cent.), or 
39 women, of the dispensary group and been in their positions less 
than one year. The majority (30) of these had had one other place, 



FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 



159 



while a few (5) had held from 2 to 4 other positions. The larger 
proportion of the women interviewed, however, were not part of the 
shifting industrial population, since almost three-fifths (56 per cent.) 
had held the same position for from one to five years, and one-eighth 
(12.8 per cent.) from six to twelve years. This did not necessarily 
mean regular employment throughout the year, since the larger pro- 
portion (68.2 per cent.) of the women were in manufacturing occu- 
pations, and therefore subjected to seasonal employment with its 
attendant irregular pay. 

Uses of Leisure Time. 

The leisure times were obviously the hours left after the sleeping 
hours and time devoted to work were deducted. The daily hours of 
leisure ranged from two and one-half to eight, but two-fifths (39.7 



Table 75. — Uses made of Leisure Time by One Hundred and Twenty-six 

Dispensary Patients. 



Daily Hours of 
Leisure. 


All 
Women. I 


Women reporting Uses op Leisure as — 


Total. 


Recre- 
ation. 


Exer- 
cise. 


Educa- 
tion. 


Work. 


Rest. 


Not 
report- 
ing. 


Total 

Less than 4 hours, 

4 hours and less than 5, . 

5 hours and less than 6, . 

6 hours and less than 7, . 

7 hours and more, 
Irregular 


126 

9 

26 
50 
25 
9 
7 


346 

20 
75 
130 

78 
22 
21 


69 

2 

10 
25 
25 
4 
3 


67 

2 
18 
24 
15 
5 
3 


24 

5 
11 

5 

1 
2 


146 

10 
37 
53 
27 
9 
10 


28 

5 
5 
9 
5 
3 
1 


12 

1 

8 

1 

2 



' Number of women irrespective of number of uses of leisure time reported. 

per cent.) of the workers had from five to six hours a day. These 
periods, however, included the time spent rising, retiring and eating 
breakfast and supper. The various uses of this free time, as reported 
by the workers, are shown in Table 75. It is obvious that this lei- 
sure time probably is used for more than one purpose by each woman. 
The various occupations of this time were given by the women inter- 
viewed as the things they usually did in one week. Housework, 
laundry and sewing, classed as work, were most frequently reported; 



160 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

movies, clubs, visits to friends and other forms of recreation were 
next; and walking, third. Twenty-eight of the women were too tired 
after working hours to do anything but rest. While every woman 
reported at least one kind of work, only a little over one-half reported 
some form of recreation. 

The general low standards of living, the strain of industry, the 
short leisure periods were evidently partial causes in undermining the 
health of the 126 dispensary patients interviewed. Probably all these 
conditions were aggravated by an unwise selection of food, especially 
by a monotonous diet, limited use of vegetables and fats, particu- 
larly in the case of the Russian Jewesses. Since this study was neces- 
sarily concerned with the group as a whole, equal weight was given 
to all probable causes of ill health. For practical application the 
importance given to each element conducive to ill health in the in- 
dividual cases would receive different weights, and the results com- 
pared with the average for the group; for instance, food might be 
the most important cause in one case and working conditions in 
another. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 161 



CHAPTER VI. 
COMPARATIVE SUMMARIES AND CONSTRUCTIVE SUGGESTIONS. 

Nutrition investigations are attaining an important place in the 
public health service because of the growing recognition of the part 
they play in preventive medicine. Recent studies have shown the 
direct connection between faulty diets and such maladies as pellagra 
and beriberi, and reasons have been found for believing that wrong 
quantities or unsuitable forms of food are to blame for many other 
morbid conditions of the body. A complete revolution is taking 
place in the methods of preventing the spread of infectious diseases, 
since it is now realized that it is impossible to extend the older 
activities of quarantine and disinfection so that the public will be 
safeguarded from the spread of disease by persons who may carry 
germs to others without suffering seriously from their presence. 
Increased attention must be given to fortifying each individual so 
that he will carry his defences with him. Whether this immunity 
is won through the activities of the scavenger cells of the body, by 
the secretion of antiseptic fluids, or by the creation of anti-bodies, 
it is in every case promoted by a well-nourished, vigorously function- 
ing physical condition, and so is directly dependent on an adequate 
supply of properly selected food. 

National vitality is regarded as the most valuable of the country's 
resources, and as the one most in need of careful conservation. Its 
direct dependence on the health of the mothers of future genera- 
tions has led all civilized countries to enact laws for the safe- 
guarding of working women, but these laws can establish only mini- 
mum conditions of protection, as otherwise they would defeat their 
purpose by taking from women the opportunity to compete with 
men in efforts to earn a livelihood. The same ends which have been 
promoted by protective legislation also may be gained by teaching 
women how to nourish and exercise their bodies, and how to direct 
their activities so that what strength they possess may be applied 
most effectively. Indeed, the objects sought in labor legislation 
never can be attained fully until the activities of factory inspectors 



162 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

are supplemented by constructive work on the part of public health 
officers. 

Such constructive work in the field of dietetics should begin with 
efforts to promote the better nourishment of the women under 
twenty-one years of age, because a greater proportion of the female 
population of this age group is at work, and because these younger 
women need more food than mature women. One-half of the 
younger women of Boston are at work,^ and the records of the school 
placement bureau show that about a third of these women under 
twenty-one became wage earners when fourteen to sixteen years of 
age. Their health gains peculiar social significance when we realize 
that the half of the female population who have the experiences of 
wage earners marry in a larger proportion, at an earlier age, and 
produce more children than the half who enjoy a longer period of 
training and protection. 

The younger women need more food in order to supply the double 
demands of growth and maintenance. They are in the period of 
transition from childhood to womanhood, during which the bony and 
muscular structure is completed, and the organs and glands of the 
reproductive system are matured and started upon a type of func- 
tioning which often brings greatly increased nutritional demands. 
Tissue building is expensive, and a rich and abundant diet is required 
if there is to be the necessary surplus after energy has been sup- 
plied for the day's work. Greater physical exertion is required in 
the occupations of the younger than in those of the adult women, 
as the majority of the former are factory workers or unskilled assist- 
ants in mercantile establishments, while a large proportion of the 
latter hold sedentary clerical and professional positions. 

These younger working women usually live with their own or an 
adoptive family group; only 6 of the 261 women found living away 
from their families were under twenty years of age.^ Three-fourths 
of the housekeepers of these family groups were born in foreign 
lands,^ and many of them are unable to speak the language used in 
the markets where they spend limited family incomes on unaccus- 
tomed viands. Wholesome ways of living which have survived 
through generations of life on a peasant farm of Europe may be ill 
adapted to conditions found in the tenements of an American city. 
No doubt all the members of the family suffer because of these dif- 

i Table 1, p. 14. 2 Table 29, p. 70. ' Table 3, p. 16. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 163 

Acuities of readjustment, but the results are apt to be most disastrous 
for those who need the richer diet required to supply both growth 
and bodily maintenance. 

Domestic science teachers should be sent into the homes of immi- 
grant families to assist housekeepers in the selection and preparation 
of well-balanced and economical family bills of fare. The Cal- 
ifornia Immigration Commission has promoted such a plan, and 
secured the adoption of a law making possible the employment of 
such teachers throughout the State. They may be paid from public 
school funds, since their services are regarded as a part of the pub- 
lic educational work. Similar instruction is being given in eastern 
cities by settlement and relief workers.^ In the absence of these 
direct efforts to modify family standards of living we must depend 
on thorough instruction in the public schools, combined with sys- 
tematic efforts to encourage the children to apply their knowledge 
in the home. Difficulties and delaj^s seem inseparable from the 
efforts to modify family dietaries. Prompter relief may be given 
the young working women by assistance in procuring an inexpensive 
and nourishing noon luncheon. 

The results of the present study indicate that the facilities for 
obtaining an adequate noon luncheon are apt to be in an inverse 
ratio to the need for nourishment. The women having the longest 
work day, the lowest wage, the most physical strain and the greatest 
nutritional needs had the shortest lunch period and the least assist- 
ance in obtaining a satisfying meal. Thus we find that a third of 
the power-machine operators and active semi-skilled workers of the 
factory district had a thirty-minute noon period, while three-fourths 
of the women doing lighter office work had the full hour for rest 
and refreshment.^ The frequency of piecework and the half hour 
for lunch in the low wage group exceeded that of the higher wage 
group.^ Eighty per cent, of the women engaged in manufacturing never 
bought a hot noon lunch, while only 20 per cent, of the women em- 
ployed in stores were unable to enjoy the greater comfort of a cafeteria 
service, and but 40 per cent, of the women doing the lighter office 
work ate cold lunches.^ The younger women, whose nutritional needs 

1 Gibbs, Winifred Stuart: The Minimum Cost of Living. This book gives a summary of the results 
of such work for families assisted by the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. 

2 Table 11, p. 30. 

3 Table 8, p. 26. 

4 Table 6, p. 21. 



164 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

are greater than those of mature women, were found largely in the 
poorly paid, short noon hour groups. 

The more general adoption of the full hour noon period would be 
a simple and inexpensive first step towards improved conditions. 
No argument is needed to prove that uncomfortable results often 
must follow the hasty swallowing of a cold lunch during a short 
interval between the periods of high tension characteristic of factory 
piecework. The focusing of attention on eating, particularly when 
accompanied by pleasurable anticipations, is a means of promoting 
the flow of digestive juices. The longer noon period makes possible 
some simple efforts at serving the lunch more attractively, encourages 
less hasty eating, and invites restful social intercourse or some form 
of diverting mental or physical activity. 

The economic value of a good noon meal is clearly shown by an 
analysis of the consequences of the failure to provide opportunities 
for an agreeable and wholesome luncheon service. A young woman 
w^ho has been cramped over a power machine all the morning, with 
her eyes strained^ by watching the needles and her entire strength 
focused on the effort to finish as many pieces as possible, pushes 
aside her work and opens the package of lunch which was hastily 
packed before leaving home. The food has been exposed to germ- 
laden air, and may have been carelessly handled during preparation. 
It has been kept in the warm workroom during the morning, and 
when opened gives forth a stale odor. Eating is an unpleasant duty 
quickly discharged, — often without leaving the machine or work 
table. The cells and glands which secrete the digestive fluids have 
not received the blood supply which makes possible vigorous work, 
and so cannot surround this cold, soggy mass promptly with the 
strong fluids which might kill the germs and convert the food into 
substances needed for renewing bodily energy. The colonies of germs 
thrive in the moist heat of the stomach, and the gases and poisons 
from the decaying food help produce the irritable disposition and 
chronic tired feeling which make a discontented and inefiicient em- 
ployee. 

The minimum provisions for the noon meal which might well be 
required in all places of employment are facilities for washing the 
hands, a clean place in which to eat and some means of heating 
food or beverages. Since two-thirds of the women of this study 

' Eye strain is a common cause of indigestion. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 165 

who were engaged in manufacturing ate their noon meals at power 
machines or on their work tables, it is evident that many Boston em- 
ployers are not giving even this slight attention to the health and 
comfort of their employees.^ A separate lunch or rest room is 
desirable both because it gives a change during the noon period and 
because there is less danger of the food being soiled by the injurious 
dusts that are found in many factories.^ When this cannot be pro- 
vided, portable or folding tables may be used, or work tables may 
be cleared and supplied with clean covering. A roll or large sheets 
of wrapping paper could be provided, or paper napkins and table- 
cloths, which cost little and add to the attractiveness of the lunch. 
Facilities for preparing and serving hot beverages are indispensable 
in the many factories where over 80 per cent, of the employees eat 
cold food brought from home. 

Employers who feel that they cannot afford any of the more 
generous welfare activities which are now being so widely adopted 
may improve on these minimum provisions by encouraging various 
forms of co-operation found in the smaller Boston establishments. 
A messenger may be sent to neighboring cafeterias or delicatessen 
stores to bring in food ordered by groups of workers,^ or a woman 
employee of domestic tastes maj^ be given time in which to prepare 
food for her companions. The plan of employing a motherly house- 
wife to come in for a few hours in the middle of the day to assist in 
keeping the lunch room clean and attractive and in the preparation 
of a few simple dishes works well and requires but a small ex- 
penditure.'* 

A lunch club might be organized which could co-operate with the 
employer in plans for purchasing supplies at wholesale rates, thus 
making possible greater variety with little expense. The monoto- 
nous consumption of tea could be broken up by the occasional sub- 
stitution of chocolate, cocoa or canned soup. Oranges, apples, 
prunes, raisins and dates — foods needed to counteract maladies 
common among factory women — could be bought in unbroken 
packages and the employees given the benefit of the reduced rates. 

The factory, as well as the school, lunch service may in time be 
recognized as an important public duty. In Boston, as in many 
other cities, the latter has been so regarded, and has been conducted 
without profits by organizations interested in social betterment 

» Table 7, p. 22. « Page 23. » Page 37. « Page 59. 



166 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

activities. As already suggested, the need is greater and the pubHc 
welfare is as much involved in the case of the young factory worker 
as in that of the student. In the course of this investigation em- 
ployers of the smaller factories maintaining no cafeterias were asked 
whether they would welcome a plan whereby food would be sent in 
from a central kitchen to be sold at cost, as is done in the secondary 
schools. Many employers showed a willingness to furnish space, 
equipment for serving and heating food, and other incidentals if 
by doing so they could obtain good food for their employees at cost 
prices. The history of school feeding shows that, after its value 
has been proved and the methods of management standardized, there 
is a tendency to transfer it to public control. In time all indus- 
trial communities may accept the obligation to maintain a central 
kitchen from which food can be distributed for sale at cost both to 
school children and factory workers. 

That a fully equipped employees' lunch room is gaining recog- 
nition as a necessary addition to the larger factories and department 
stores is evident from the results of the investigation in Boston and 
the reports received from other sections of the country. The per- 
son in charge should combine business ability and a knowledge of 
cookery and dietetics. Particular attention should be given to the 
advantages of co-operation with a committee of representative 
employees who can help adapt the food served to the tastes and 
purses of their companions.^ There is a sound physiological basis 
for reluctance to make changes in food habits, as the body is ad- 
justed to accustomed diets, and digestion is promoted by the greater 
satisfaction which they give. 

Dietary deficiencies revealed by investigations of individual and 
family menus might be remedied to some extent in the bills of fare 
in employees' lunch rooms. Constipation is a common ailment 
among many classes of workers. The use of whole-grain breads and of 
fresh vegetables and fruits would assist in overcoming this tendency. 
Useful foods not commonly served in Boston wage earners' homes 
are winter vegetables, such as cabbage, celery, cauliflower, carrots, 
onions and turnips; dried fruits, such as raisins, dates, prunes and 
apricots; cheese, both separately and with macaroni; peanut butter, 
rice and various corn products. The use of wholesome but unaccus- 
tomed foods should be encouraged by definite dietary instruction. 

» Page 59. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 167 

Short talks on personal hygiene given during the noon hour have 
brought good results in some Boston establishments, and should 
become a more common practice. If a reading room is maintained 
it would be well to supply a few good books on dietetics, to which 
reference could be made in these talks. No doubt many wage 
earners would gladly avail themselves of such opportunities, as 
employees are reflecting the personal efficiency ideals of their em- 
ployers, and often are eager to learn how to get the best possible 
results from the running of their bodily machinery. 

The Food of Women living away from their Families. 

The lone woman of our great cities presents a new phase of social 
evolution. Until quite recently she was found most frequently in 
the United States, but the reports of industrial conditions in Great 
Britain during war times show that, under stress of economic neces- 
sity, women are being separated from their families and shifted from 
place to place in order to supply the demands for their services.^ 
These emergency conditions may become permanent, since the death 
of large numbers of men will deprive many women of present and 
future family relationships. If the war continues the unhappy 
experiences of Europe may be repeated in the United States. The 
independence of American women and social conditions which insure 
them an exceptional degree of safety may result in an increasing 
tendency to sever family ties in order to seek the opportunities for 
employment which promise the best wages and which meet personal 
preferences. 

Large numbers of virtuous women from whom the mothers of 
future generations may be drawn have never before been found 
living independently outside of family groups. The change means 
not merely the forfeiting of the protection of the family and the 
loss of an economical manner of living, but also withdrawal from 
the most inexpensive form of social insurance. In the past the 
risks of sickness, of irregular employment and of old-age helplessness 
usually have been shared by members of the family group. Radical 
social readjustments are necessary in order to provide adequate sub- 
stitutes for what is lost when wage-earning women are deprived of 
these advantages. An exceptionally high proportion of women, who 

1 Monthly Review of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, May, 1917, pp. 661-664. 



168 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

for many years have been trying to jfind ways of solving these prob- 
lems/ makes Boston a good place in which to attempt a critical 
study of the efforts to deal with conditions which mark the break-up 
of an old and the beginning of a new social and economic order. 

That no generally satisfactory plan of living for unattached 
women has been developed seems evident from an examination of 
the schedules collected in the course of this investigation. The 
various plans reported may be grouped roughly under three types : — 

1. The lone-woman type, in which each person lives alone and 
obtains her food at a restaurant or boarding house, or prepares and 
serves it in her room or small apartment. 

2. Co-operative housekeeping initiated and managed by the small 
group who live together on a family basis. 

3. Communal schemes whereby the necessities of life are provided 
for large groups of women who live in organized houses which have 
been established and are partly or entirely controlled by persons 
who do not belong to the class of wage earners for whom the accom- 
modations are designed. 

The Lone-woman Plan of Living. 

Nearly 60 per cent, of the 261 individual schedules showed eating 
habits which a man would sum up in the phrase, "My home is 
where I hang my hat." It is difficult to classify the varying com- 
binations of light housekeeping, boarding house and restaurant,^ 
and the grouping would be still more intricate if the shifting between 
restaurants were indicated. The growing patronage of restaurants 
was the most striking tendency noticed in their confused and intricate 
living plans. It seems probable that the drift from the old-fashioned 
boarding house to the restaurant indicates that the latter gives more 
satisfactory service, as the women included in the investigation were 
familiar with the city, and their thrift in other matters suggests 
that they must have made a careful study of how to gpt the largest 
possible returns for their money. The detailed reports of the places 
where noon luncheons were purchased show that nearly 70 per cent, 
of the women were in the habit of eating at places which were 
organized so that wholesale buying of supplies and minimum service 
charges made it possible to give patrons good food at a low price.^ 

» Table 1. p. 14; Table 26, p. 66. 2 Table 37, p. 83. ^ Table 18, p, 43; pp. 44^5. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 169 

Of the 700 women interviewed in the noon luncheon study only 
24 went home for the midday meal.^ Yet many of the women must 
have felt the need of substantial food, as the hurried departure in 
the morning often must have prevented the eating of a satisfying 
breakfast. Those who could afford to buy hot food might easily 
acquire the restaurant habit as a result of their experiences with the 
noon meal. Even the women in the small-wage groups would find 
it practicable to buy a noon meal which would include meat and 
hot vegetables, and to prepare in their rooms the lighter foods eaten 
in the morning and evening. Since inexpensive boarding houses are 
rarely found within walking distance of the places where the women 
are employed, and since pleasanter and less expensive rooms can be 
rented in suburban localities, such plans would be adopted by an 
increasing number of women. 

A careful study of the Gephart and Lusk report on the nutritional 
values of ready-to-serve foods would be helpful to these women. 
Thirty-three varieties of food were found which were sold at prices 
permitting the purchase of a day's ration supplying 2,500 calories 
for 50 cents. ^ Thirty-two additional dishes were added to the list 
when the living allowance was increased to between 51 and 60 cents. 
At these prices three-fourths of the women living away from home 
could have obtained adequate restaurant food for the sums which 
they expended. That good use would be made of a knowledge of the 
food values of restaurant dishes is indicated by the extreme care 
with which these women expended their limited incomes. The 
"food spree" was the exception, and self -restrained confinement to 
15-cent lunches or 25-cent dinners the rule. 

Inability to select a cheap and adequate menu, or unwillingness 
to confine themselves to the inexpensive dishes, prevented the general 
adoption of the minimum-cost (restaurant) bill of fare. Only 4 
women who reported their food for an entire week, and who spent 
less than $4, purchased all their meals at restaurants or cafeterias. 
The usual plan was to buy one or two meals a day, and to supple- 
ment them with food prepared in the room. Forty per cent, did 
some cooking in their rooms, over 20 per cent, prepared a large 
portion of their food there, and about 9 per cent, depended entirely 
on such light housekeeping.^ Two-thirds of the women for whom 

1 Table 7, p. 22. 

2 Gephart and Lusk: Analysis and Costs of Ready-to-Serve Foods, pp. 22, 23. 

3 Table 37, p. 83. 



170 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

schedules were collected did the whole or a part of their laundering 
in their rooms or apartments.^ The opposition of the landlady to 
such domestic pursuits is well known, so it seems probable that if 
permitted to do so a higher proportion of the women would indulge 
their housekeeping instincts. 

Cheapness and the possibility of accurate adjustment to personal 
needs and tastes account for the increasing popularity of this method 
of procuring food. All waste can be eliminated, as the woman pro- 
vides only such viands as she feels disposed to eat, and the remnants 
from one meal can be saved for another. The proverbial fondness 
for home cooking can be gratified, and the subtler dietary adjust- 
ments which play an important part in promoting physical well- 
being can be made. The economic waste due to buying in small 
quantities is a much smaller factor in determining the final cost 
than the expenditures for services of preparation and the rent, light 
and heat of places where restaurant food is served. 

Three objections are urged to obtaining food by light housekeeping 
in bedrooms: (1) it is pointed out that the fatigue of the day's 
work should not be increased by the labor of preparing food; (2) 
from remote antiquity the taking of food has been regarded as a 
social function, and many women find eating alone very depressing; 
(3) uncouth living conditions may bring a loss of dainty habits and 
self-respect. These objections gain greater weight from the fact 
that such living arrangements are not temporary, but often are 
important influences throughout the adult life of the large group of 
women by whom these solitary ways of living are being adopted. 

Failure to recognize this element of permanence in their living 
problems is one of the reasons for the lack of efforts to establish 
good standards for these women who can no longer make use of the 
traditional methods of obtaining food and shelter. The assump- 
tion that their present manner of living is a makeshift, and that they 
soon will be supplied with husbands and homes, is not justified by 
the facts revealed in the course of this investigation, since the 
average number of years away from home was between nine and 
ten^ and in many cases the eflSciency and happiness of the entire 
adult life are dependent on the discovery of sound plans of living. 
The improvement of the social and economic conditions of working 
women is greatly impeded by this failure to realize that for the 

» Page 81. « Page 71. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 171 

class, if not for the individual, the situation is permanent, and 
worthy of the best efforts to understand its conditions and formulate 
its standards. A frank facing of the possible dangers of a manner 
of living that is becoming increasingly common, and a consideration 
of ways for its improvement, will help working women decide 
whether light housekeeping is the best possible means of providing 
the whole or a part of their food. 

Excessive fatigue is a source of indigestion. A careful estimate of 
physical resources should precede the adoption of a plan of living 
which makes additional demands on limited strength. Women who 
feel exhausted at the end of the day's labors should go home and 
lie down for half or three-quarters of an hour before eating the 
evening meal. Those engaged in sedentary occupations would be 
benefited by a brisk walk, or the gentle exercise of light housekeep- 
ing. School teachers who have an interval of rest in the afternoon 
can engage in domestic labors without injury. 

Since emotional conditions have a decided influence on the secre- 
tion of digestive juices, the advisability of adopting this method of 
providing food depends also on whether the woman has a liking for 
and skill in the domestic arts. Indifference or irritation while pre- 
paring the food is apt to promote discomfort after it is eaten. On 
the other hand, when cooking is exercised as a fine art, the focusing 
of attention on what is expected to be an appetizing meal is a means 
of promoting a copious flow of digestive fluids. A domestic science 
teacher who carries heavy responsibilities, and who had recently 
changed from a boarding house to a small apartment, vowed that 
she thoroughly enjoyed cooking her evening meal, and found that it 
agreed with her better than did the boarding-house fare. 

The emotional effect of solitary eating varies with the individual. 
Teachers or saleswomen who have labored with people all day often 
prefer a quiet meal with no conversational obligations. The social 
intercourse of the average boarding house is not particularly sooth- 
ing or cheering, and certainly the publicity and noise of the public 
restaurant offer no attractions. There is a general unwillingness 
among these women to have roommates, so it is evident that they 
prefer the quiet and relaxation of freedom from companionship. It 
seems probable that solitary eating would not prove depressing if 
the food were properly prepared and daintily served. 

This brings us to the third and chief objection to the light house- 



172 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

keeping observed in the course of this investigation. It is impos- 
sible to say whether the uncouth habits^ of Hving of some of these 
women should be charged to early. lack of training or to inability to 
obtain adequate light housekeeping facilities. In this age of cheap 
domestic supplies a limited income is not sufficient excuse for con- 
ditions frequently observed by the investigators. The hurried gob- 
bling of food from the frying pan or paper bag is in keeping with 
the customs of the tenements, where families rarely sit down to- 
gether at a nicely served meal. We need a refocusing of education 
which shall result in a just recognition of the dignity and importance 
of the activities of daily life on which depend human happiness and 
efficiency. It is generally agreed that the vocational education for 
women must include training for both wage earning and home- 
making. Since so high a proportion may spend their lives as wage 
earners, some instruction about methods of adjusting the home- 
making, activities to the needs of single women would not be out of 
place. 

The difficulty of finding rooms suitable for light housekeeping at 
a rental which a working woman can pay discourages all ambition 
to make an attractive little home. Only the more successful can 
afford a kitchenette . apartment. Resourceful women architects 
should try to solve the problems connected with building a house 
of one or two room apartments whose cost would be such that the 
rents could be moderate. A ventilated closet kitchen with a small 
gas stove and a sink suitable for washing dishes and clothes, a 
comfortable living room, a closet for clothing, possibly an ingenious 
plan for folding away the bed, and access to a bathroom are requi- 
sites for well-ordered living. 

The Octavia Hill plan for the management of tenements might 
well be applied to such apartment houses. They should be in charge 
of a social worker who would be responsible for the maintenance 
of good standards. She could serve as a court of last appeal in the 
self-governing scheme of the tenants, could organize classes for 
instruction in hygienic living, and could make provision for various 
forms of co-operative buying which would reduce living expenses. 

The high cost of city building sites, the excessive amount of 
plumbing in such a house, as well as the heavy expense of heating 
and upkeep, will make it impossible to supply such accommodations 

I Pages 83, 84. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 173 

for a large portion of the 18,000 to 20,000 women in Boston who are 
Hving away from their families. The lower wage women can often 
rent rooms with many housekeeping privileges in suburban homes. 
A stenographer and proofreader, who is thirty-four years old and 
earns $20 a week, says, in reporting the results of her varied ex- 
periences: "I have been a participant in five different co-operative 
schemes and do not recommend them. The place for a girl who 
has come away from home is in another home. There are many 
women in the suburbs who are glad to rent rooms to just such a girl, 
and for but $2 or $3 a week will give her a ' homey ' room, well cared 
for and heated, and with the privileges of doing some washing, iron- 
ing and cooking, using the sewing machine, piano, etc. Usually, 
these women have been working girls themselves and know just how 
to treat one. They are glad to earn a little extra money for them- 
selves. How can a lodger be much trouble when she is away all 
day long and out a good deal in the evenings? An 'ad.' in the 
* Transcript ' beginning ' Wanted by a business woman ' finds them . 
Many a nice little woman will write a timid answer to such an 
'ad.' who would not dream of advertising rooms to let, and she 
does not 'say anything to her husband about it' until you have 
told her you would like to come, and is not sure 'what he will say.'" 
She pays $2 a week for a room in Brookline. Her breakfast is pre- 
pared in her room: a cold lunch is supplemented by tea or cocoa, 
made on a gas plate at her place of employment; and the evening 
meal is purchased at a restaurant. Her menus show an amjile and 
well-balanced diet at a total cost for the week reported of $3.82. 

Choice of Food. 

Notwithstanding the varied plans for obtaining their meals, the 
women living away from home showed remarkably good judgment 
in the choice of food. Mrs. Ellen H. Richards began her pioneer 
work for the promotion of public instruction in dietetics over twenty- 
five years ago, and throughout this period Boston has profited by a 
great variety of educational activities in this field. In the absence 
of studies of dietaries in other sections of the country it is impossible 
to make comparisons, but the results of this investigation indicate 
that these educational efforts have brought some good returns. The 
menus show a healthful variety in the diet selected, but no instance 



174 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

was discovered of the deliberate and intelligent effort to procure a 
properly balanced ration at minimum cost. 

The reports of food eaten by women earning less than $6 per 
week may have shown this knowledge of what constituted a good 
diet rather than what the women were accustomed to buying, since 
the sum spent on food and lodging was 114 per cent, of the weekly 
income. There is the same tendency to an excessive use of bread 
which has been noticed in similar English studies, as it constitutes 
33 per cent, of the total range of foods eaten, but the more nourish- 
ing milk and cocoa were used about once a day in place of tea and 
coffee. The dietaries reported by these poorly paid women were not 
defective: in one week they ate meat 7 to 8 times; eggs 3 to 4 
times; beans, 1 to 2 times; vegetables, 9 to 10 times; and fruit, 
3 times. ^ A larger use of cereals would improve the diet of these 
women. Since nearly all of them were doing light housekeeping it 
would have been possible to boil rice, oatmeal, corn meal and hominy 
or samp. Inexpensive home-made fireless cookers would make 
possible the thorough cooking required for such cereals, and when 
eaten with milk and sugar they supply much nourishment at small 
cost. 

The 61 women earning $8 to $10 per week may be regarded as 
typical of the workers of ordinary or mediocre ability, while those 
scattered through the higher wage ranges probably were women of 
superior training or of greater natural ability and initiative. The most 
striking difference in the dietaries of these two groups is the exces- 
sively stimulating character of the food chosen by the less success- 
ful women. They used tea and coffee 16.3 times per week, or two 
to three times every day,^ and also chose the more stimulating pro- 
tein foods with equal frequency. The higher wage women used more 
fruits, vegetables and cereals, less bread and meat, and substituted 
soup, milk and cocoa for a part of the tea and coffee used by the 
lower wage groups. Thus the diet of the more successful women 
contained more minerals and less protein, and was not so consti- 
pating as the bread, tea and meat menus of those who earned less. 

The excess of protein may have tended to lower the working 
capacity of the women. While some of them were engaged in the 

1 Tables 39-42. 

2 The 77 schedules used in calculating the menu and Table 5 of pages 18 and 19 show an exceptionally 
small use of tea and coffee. A number of these earlier schedules were furnished by Simmons College 
graduates who had learned good dietary habits. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 175 

more active occupations, all were past the age when there was a 
demand for the surplus of protein required for growth. It is well 
known that when more protein food is eaten than can be utilized 
there are uric acid by-products which must be eliminated, and which, 
when in excess, may cause a sense of fatigue. Constipation also 
produces depressing poisons which have far-reaching evil effects. 
The large use of tea and coffee may have promoted undue nervous 
irritability in many of the women. 

Food was the most important and at the same time the most 
elastic item in the budgets of these self-supporting women. Since 
the majority of them lived in irregular ways, preparing some meals 
in their rooms and buying the others at cafeterias, restaurants or 
boarding houses, it was possible to adjust their bills of fare to 
varying conditions of the purse. Room rent must be a fairly stable 
factor, as an unprotected woman must provide herself with suitable 
shelter; but clothing and food, the two chief remaining items, can be 
varied to meet fluctuations in income or in accordance with prefer- 
ences of the individual. A woman may be tempted to save on her 
food in order to purchase clothing which she desires, or may choose 
this means of reducing expenses. Studies of industries employing 
women indicate that practically all of them have periods of lessened 
pay or unemployment. The combination of anxiety about loss of 
work and a reduced diet must occur often, and must prove a great 
strain for many of these women. Provident loan societies should 
make special efforts to extend their benefits to women living away 
from home. The ability to procure a small loan at a reasonable 
rate would prevent the risks to health due to anxiety and inadequate 
food during times of industrial depression. 

The majority of the women living away from home were spending 
more on their food than their incomes justified. Certainly it will be 
impossible for them to continue during the present national crisis 
such dietaries as they reported. The chief item on which a saving 
could be made is meat. Adult women whose occupations do not 
require severe physical exertion certainly can be well nourished if 
they have meat or fish once a day. When eggs, beans and milk are 
used it would be possible to dispense entirely with a meat dish. 
Experiments conducted during the months of this investigation 
showed that adult men could be fed at a cost of 25 to 30 cents a day, 
or for $1.75 to $2.10 a week. This sum covered only the cost of raw 



176 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

materials, while the amount paid by the women usually was in- 
creased by the cost of preparing the food and the charges of res- 
taurant or cafeteria service for at least one meal a day. Even after 
making such allowance it will be found that a satisfactory diet 
could have been procured for less than was paid. The schools re- 
tain a hold on Boston young people at least until they are sixteen 
years old. Instruction could be given which would assist these 
young women to select an adequate and well-balanced ration at 
minimum cost. This would make possible some saving from their 
meager earnings, and enable them to decrease their living expenses 
during periods of financial depression without injury to their health. 
Tables of dietary values, and problems requiring the selection of 
menus of varying prices, might well take a conspicuous place in the 
arithmetic exercises of continuous school classes of both boys and 
girls. 

The expenditure for food by women living away from home is 
much larger than the per capita expenditures of the family budgets 
of wage earners. The group of 61 women earning $8 to $10 per week 
spent for food an average of $3.36^ per week, or S174.72 per annum. 
Atwater estimates that a woman at moderately active work requires 
about 80 per cent, of what is used by a man, and 3 children may 
use as much as 2 women; then a family of 5, with the rate of ex- 
penditure of these single women earning $8 to $10, would require 
for food alone $787.56 per annum. 

The standard minimum dietary, which has been tested through 
eight years of expert application in the families assisted by the New 
York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, supplies 
3,000 calories at a cost of 34 cents (October, 1916) per unit per day, 
or 27 cents for the amount usually allowed an adult woman. This 
ration contains less meat, eggs, butter and fresh fruit, but more 
vegetables and milk, than were used by the single women of the 
Boston investigation. 2 Co-operative groups of wage-earning women 
could be taught to select and prepare minimum cost dietaries by 
means similar to those employed with these families. 

1 Table 31. p. 75. 

2 Gibbs, Winifred Stuart: The Minimum Cost of Living, p. 18. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 177 

Co-operative Housekeeping. 

Housekeeping in co-operative groups which would reproduce the 
conditions of family life seems a natural and desirable manner of 
living for working women separated from their families. It would 
be inexpensive, would supply companionship, would require no more 
or even less work than the light housekeeping of a large proportion 
of the lone women, and would preserve the capacity for personal 
adjustment necessary for normal family life. Why is it that so few 
working women adopt this manner of living? Only 31 of the 261 
women living away from home were members of small co-operative 
households, and most of these groups were fragmentary families 
rather than voluntary co-operators.-^ The latter were found in small 
numbers at the two extremes of the wage groups, — the women with 
good incomes sometimes sought the better accommodations or home 
atmosphere of a family, and those of the lowest wages were forced 
to resort to light housekeeping in rooms shared by other women of 
equally limited incomes. A typical example of the experiences of 
the high-wage, co-operative housekeeper is a young woman holding 
a civil service position paying $25 a week. She rented a small 
apartment for $5.50 per week, and paid an additional $2 for the 
woman who cleaned the apartment and washed. She reports: 
"When there are three of us in the apartment we each put $6 into 
the box on Monday morning. This pays our rent, our gas bill, our 
telephone (S3 a month) and our cleaning. It allow^s us to have all 
the company we want. W^hen there are two of us we each put $8 
in the box. 

"I think the co-operative method of housekeeping is the best and 
most economical way for girls to live, but the outlay for furniture 
prohibits many from living this way, and a physically tiring job 
would make it unwise for a. girl to attempt it. For stenographers 
and office workers this is the solution. For salesgirls some other 
way is better, I think. 

"I have very rarely been alone at the apartment except for two 
months in the summer. Part of that time I lived alone and part 
of it I closed the apartment and lived with a friend of mine in 
Jamaica Plain. When I am there alone it costs about Sll a week, 
if I eat at home, which I rarely do when alone." 

I Page 87. 



178 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

The minimum expenditure was less than the sums covering the 
average cost of food and lodging of women earning $14 or over/ 
but the maximum expense could not have been met by a large 
majority of the women living away from home. Other co-oper- 
ative housekeepers told of similar uncertainty. In one such enter- 
prise joint signatures to the lease helped to enforce the complete 
responsibility of the more unstable members of the group. The un- 
certainty of the tenure of office of many women would make them 
hesitate before investing their meager savings in furnishings, and 
assuming the obligations of an annual lease. A knowledge of this 
uncertainty deters the women of more stable economic status from 
forming alliances which may leave them a double share of the ex- 
penses, or may even require that they assist the unfortunate mem- 
bers of their adopted family. 

The difficulty of finding a group who are equally gifted in the 
domestic arts and disposed to share alike in the household labors 
is another obstacle to co-operative housekeeping. A strictly equit- 
able division of responsibility is rarely found in natural families. 
Usually one abler, stronger or more unselfish member is elected by 
common consent to the honorable role of family burden bearer. 
There is greater reluctance to "bear the infirmities of the weak" 
when they have no claims of kinship, and the fairly well-founded 
fear that some members of the group will be shirkers is enough to 
prevent many from assuming the obligations of a joint establish- 
ment. 

Personal peculiarities or distaste for the forming of new social ties 
were found to be the chief obstacles to co-operative housekeeping.^ 
Some of the women interviewed were aware of their growing irri- 
tability and selfishness. A person of apparent congeniality may, on 
more intimate acquaintance, reveal habits which are extremely annoy- 
ing, as in the case of a young woman of good education and refined 
manner who had contracted the habit of continuous whistling. 
Women away from home must be on their guard against undesirable 
associates, and caution often develops into chronic suspicion. Pride 
and limited incomes prevent the use of opportunities for forming 
social ties which might grow into permanent friendships. The in- 
vestigators who interviewed the women living alone were strongly 
impressed with the dangers to personal character which may result 

1 Table 34, p. 78. 2 Page 87. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 179 

from the loss of family relations and failure to cultivate other social 
ties. 

Newer types of educational work arfe likely to promote future 
attempts at co-operative housekeeping. Model cottages or apartments 
in which groups of girls keep house are being recognized as essential 
parts of the equipment for domestic science instruction. Progressive 
schools where newer ideas of social training have found a foothold 
are eaicotiraging various forms of group activities which develop a 
capacity for co-operation. A systematic teaching of the minor 
courtesies which are sadly neglected in many American homes would 
be good preparation for co-operative living and for many other future 
social relations. 

Churches might be able to assist groups of working women to 
establish co-operative homes. A committee of older women, one of 
whom could serve as a house mother or counselor, could be responsi- 
ble for the general oversight of the enterprise. The counselor would 
require rare tact to enable her to be helpful without encroaching on 
the sense of responsibility which should belong to the co-operative 
group. The religious fellowship of the household might assist in 
promoting the unselfishness and forbearance necessary for community 
living. If the church assumed the expense of furnishing and risk due 
to the shifting of women when their work changes, it would be pos- 
sible for women of limited incomes to avail themselves of the econ- 
omies of such establishments. New members should be received at 
first as probationers, so that their congeniality could be tested before 
their acceptance as permanent additions to the co-operative family. 
Care should be exercised to prevent such groups assuming boarding- 
house proportions. A large church might maintain several estab- 
lishments which could be varied in type to meet the economic needs 
of women of different standards of living. 

The Food of Women living in Organized Houses. 

The organized houses intended for working women showed the 
same lack of definite standards that was found in the living arrange- 
ments of the lone women. ^ Charges for room and board ranged 
from $3 to SIO per week and there was no general agreement about 
the ages or wages of persons who were received as guests. Some 

1 Table 48, pp. nO-112. 



180 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

houses were heavily subsidized and claimed the exemption from tax- 
ation of charitable institutions, and some were self-supporting, yet 
there was no great difference between the two types of houses in the 
quantity or character of the food served. Variations in the cost of 
service were striking, since the number of guests per employee 
ranged from 3 to 12. The extremes are partially explained by assist- 
ance in the housework given by guests, and by the fact that em- 
ployees in some cases had other duties than the care of boarders. 
The numbers accommodated ranged from 14 to 1,000, yet the large 
and small houses showed no consistent variations in the per capita 
cost of raw materials. None of the houses had installed a system 
of accounting which would promote a careful study of food costs. 

The saving made possible by living in the organized houses was 
striking, as they offered food and lodging for less than could be 
obtained by any other plan. The average weekly expenditure for 
board and lodging of women living alone was $5.89, and the lowest 
wage groups spent over $4,^ while two houses charged as low as $3, 
two $3 to $4, and ten had many guests who were paying $4.50 to $5. 
Women who cooked all their meals in their bedrooms or workrooms 
paid $2.65 for food alone. ^ The addition of rent even for a part of 
a room would bring the weekly cost of living above that of the less 
expensive houses. Low-wage women whose physical endurance is 
limited, or whose occupations make heavy demands on their strength, 
need the inexpensive board and freedom from household tasks which 
is made possible by the organized houses. Such assistance is of 
great value to young women struggling to get a foothold in industry 
and to women suffering from irregularity of employment. All of 
these women are in danger of injury to their health or loss of work- 
ing power because of insufficient food. 

Concerted efforts are necessary in order to make sure that the 
women most in need of such assistance shall receive the benefits of 
the organized houses. Only 1,660 of the 20,000 Boston working 
women living away from home can be accommodated in such houses. 
Since their initial cost is great, and since they usually require con- 
tinuous financial assistance, it is not probable that they will be es- 
tablished in numbers sufficient to care for a large proportion of the 
homeless women. Long-continued residence in a subsidized house 
is socially and economically undesirable for a woman who has at- 

J Table 34, p. 78. 2 Table 37, p. 83. 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS. 181 

tained an earning capacity making possible self-support. The period 
of residence might be utilized to prepare the women to assume re- 
sponsibility in self-supporting, co-operative schemes. The success- 
ful Eleanor Clubs of Chicago furnish a good model for women who 
have not time and inclination for housekeeping tasks. Smaller 
groups of women who have formed ties of friendship could be given 
the training which would prepare them for the activities of family- 
size, housekeeping units. Those who do not wish companionship 
could receive instruction and guidance in the choice of wholesome 
and economical plans of living suitable for lone women. 

A central municipal or even national organization could do much 
to promote the development of a comprehensive policy. Such a 
bureau for the assistance of wage-earning women is being organized 
in Cleveland. Women seeking boarding places will be guided to the 
houses best suited to their needs, and information about available 
resources for education or recreation will be given. Its functions 
might be extended to include other activities which would result in 
better standards of institutional management for the organized 
boarding houses. The following are some of the problems which 
might be solved by some such pooling of experiences : — 

The size of the group which can be cared for with the greatest 
economy and comfort. 

The service required with different forms of organization in the 
dining room and kitchen. 

Methods by which the important assistance rendered transients 
may be combined economically with the care of the permanent 
guests. 

Classification of guests so that women with low wages may profit 
by the smaller charges of the most heavily subsidized houses. 

The complete utilization of the accommodations of the houses by 
means of the prompt notification of vacancies and the sending of 
new guests from the central bureau. 

Uniform systems of accounting, making possible the comparison 
of the costs of administering such houses and the determination of 
places where saving would be possible. 

The dietaries of many of the Boston houses for working women 
are more costly than could be afforded in a wage earner's home. It 
seems suitable that such houses give a practical demonstration of a 
minimum-cost, yet adequate, dietary. The boarders should be taken 



182 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

into confidence about the details of household management and fi- 
nancing, so that they will be under no false impressions about what 
it costs to live. It does not seem desirable that young working 
women lose touch entirely with the problems of family life. This 
must happen when they spend many years in the organized boarding 
houses. 

Influence of Diet on the Health and Efficiency of the 

Working Women. 

The present investigation produced no direct evidence indicating 
that the health or efficiency of Boston working women is suffering 
seriously because of insufficient or unwisely selected food. Twenty 
thousand records were examined in order to find the small group 
of dispensary patients studied. Whijle the diet of some of them was 
deficient in fats, lacking in minerals, and of a somewhat constipating 
character, there were other unsanitary conditions or habits which 
may have contributed more to their ill health than the defective 
dietaries. A comparison of the weights at given heights of wage- 
earning women registered in the Young Women's Christian Asso- 
ciation gymnasium classes during the past five years with those 
of the entering class at Wellesley College suggests that Boston work- 
ing women may be exceptionally well nourished. The largest num- 
bers in both groups were between 5 feet 1 inch and 5 feet 5 inches 
in height, as over 70 per cent, of the women were included betw^een 
these limits. The wage earners found in these groups w^eighed 
more than the collegians, but no age records were available, and the 
differences may be due to the inclusion of a larger number of older 
women in the Young Women's Christian Association classes. Over 
15 per cent. (15.6) of the Wellesley students and only 6 per cent. 
(6.3) of the Young Women's Christian Assocation women were 
much above the average in height and weight, hence the averages 
for the entire group give the college women a slight advantage. 

But the adequacy of the diet should be judged by the energy 
furnished and the freedom from morbidity as well as by weight and 
height, and the crude methods of the present study permit no esti- 
mates of these subtler indications of physical well-being. Morbidity 
statistics of American wage-earning women are not available; the 
recent "Sickness Survey of Boston," based on the records of the 



SUMMARIES AND SUGGESTIONS 



183 



Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, does not separate the wage- 
earning women from the married homemakers. Forms of sickness 
showing a rate for females of over 50 per 100,000, named in the 
order of their importance, were rheumatism, "nervousness," cerebral 
hemorrhage, organic diseases of the heart, indigestion and other 
stomach troubles, and tuberculosis of the lungs. It is generally 

Table 76. — Bistrihution by Height and Weight of Wage-earning Women 
registered in the Young Wome7i's Christian Association Gymnasium Classes 
and of Wellesley College Students.'^ 



Young Women's Christian Association. 


Wellesley College. 


Height in Feet 
and Inches. 


Weight in 
Pounds. 


Number of 
Women. 


Height in Feet 
and Inches. 


Weight in 
Pounds. 


Number of 
Women. 


5' 2"2 


119,42 


8443 


5' 3"2 


120.92 


4563 


4' 8" 


94.4 


3 


4' 8" 


- 


- 


4' 9" 


100.3 


16 


4' 9" 


102.7 


4 


4' 10" 


106.9 


26 


4' 10" 


94.8 


5 


4' 11" 


112.0 


54 


4' 11" 


105.6 


12 


5' 


111.2 


83 


5' 


109.5 


30 


5' 1" 


114.5 


129 


5' 1" 


113.7 


60 


5' 2" 


118.1 


157 


5' 2" 


115.2 


77 


5' 3" 


122.3 


135 


5' 3" 


118.8 


81 


5' 4" 


125.8 


116 


5' 4" 


121.4 


71 


5' 5" 


130.8 


72 


5' 5" 


130.2 


45 


5' 6" 


126.9 


31 


5' 6" 


139.4 


40 


5' 7" 


134.4 


15 


5' 7" 


134.8 


18 


5' 8" 


149.1 


3 


5' 8" 


139.9 


9 


5' 9" 


136.9 


3 


5' 9" 


165.2 


2 


5' 10" 


- 


- 


5' 10" 


150.0 


2 


5' 11" 


149.0 


1 


5' 11" 


- 


- 



1 The Young Women's Christian Association records were for different women registered during a 
period of five years, while the Wellesley College data were those of the entering class of September, 1915. 
The table was prepared by Miss Louise Moore. 

2 Arithmetical averages of the groups. 3 Totals. 



recognized that the diet of the patients plays an important part in 
causing or curing several of these maladies; but since the human 
body responds to morbid states in a unified way, it is impossible 
to recognize the extent to which defective nutrition prepares the 
way for many other forms of disease, or lessens the power to re- 
pair the injuries which they inflict. 



184 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

The influence which diet may have on health and working power 
is so complex and far-reaching that no reliable conclusions can be 
based on morbidity or mortality statistics, or on the limited data 
now available. More intensive investigations are needed before 
answers can be suggested to the following questions which have 
arisen in the course of this investigation : — 

Does the strain of early wage earning and insufficient nutrition 
prevent or retard the physical development of women? 

What is the effect of physical strain and unsuitable or inadequate 
food on the development of the reproductive system? 

Is the excessive infant mortality found in urban wage earners' 
families due in a measure to the failure of full physical development, 
or to the exhaustion of reserves of vitality of the mothers who 
worked during their adolescent years? 

Reasoning from analogies among plants and animals can we con- 
clude that the impulse to continue the race is prematurely aroused 
or given greater strength when the woman is insufficiently nourished? 
Is it possible that there is a connection between the physical strain 
to which young wage-earning women are subject and the break- 
down in morals which frequently occurs when seventeen to eighteen 
years old? 

Is the lack of initiative commonly charged to working women due in 
a measure to their low vitality and indirectly to defective nutrition? 

What are the causes of the unnecessarily great differences in the 
physical development of men and Women? Variations in the 
amounts of food consumed, the less active habits of women, cloth- 
ing which checks the activities of the organs maintaining the vital 
forces, or inherited incapacity? 

A large field for educational activities as well as for research has 
been opened up by the present investigation, as it has revealed the 
inability to deal intelligently with the fundamental problems of life, 
which may prove to be the chief source of national weakness in the 
great struggle upon which we are entering. Participation in the 
war of the nations has forced upon us a great campaign for educa- 
tion in dietetics. The efficient "stoking" of the human engine will 
occupy a more important place in the courses of study of the future. 
W'omen must be given the training which will enable them to deal 
intelligently and economically with the task of providing food for a 
family or for a lone-woman wage earner. 



APPENDICES. 



Appendix A. 

FORMS OF INQUIRY USED IN THIS INVESTIGATION. 

Form No. 1. 

The Food of Working Women in Boston. 

1. Where was your father born? 

2. Where was your mother born? 

3. Where do your mother and father live? 

4. Where were you born? 

5. When were you born? Year Month Day 

6. In what town or city do you live? 

7. On what street? Near what cross street? 

8. How long have you lived away from your family? 

9. What is the business of the firm for which you now work? 

10. What work do you do for this firm? 

11. If out of work at present, what was the business of thfe firm for which you last worked, and what 

work did you do for them? 

12. How much did you earn last week, or the last week that you worked? 

13. Were you paid by the week or by the piece? 

14. What rent per week do you pay for your room? 

15. Have you roommates? How many? 

16. How do you get your clothes washed and ironed? 

17. How much does your washing and ironing cost you per week? 



188 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 





Food Eaten in One Week and what it Costs. 




Mon- 
day. 


Tues- 
day. 


Wednes- 
day. 


Thurs- 
day. 


Friday. 


Satur- 
day. 


Sunday. 


18. What did you eat for break- 
fast? 
















19. What did you eat for 
lunch? 
















20. What did you eat for sup- 
per? 
















21. Which of these meals did 
you eat outside your 
room? 
















22. Where did you get these 
meals? 
















23. How much did you pay for 
each? 
















24. What did you buy to eat in 
your room, and what did 
each thing cost? 

















25. What did you pay for oil, gas or other fuel used in cooking during the week? 

26. What was the total amount which you spent for food during this week? 

27. On what date was this record completed? 

28. Remarks: Please write on the blank back of this page any suggestions about ways in which girls 

living as you do might be assisted. Perhaps you can tell of other plans by which such girls can live 
in an economical and yet healthful way. If you co-operate with others to reduce cost, tell how you 
do it and how much it saves you. 

Note. — When this schedule is filled in, please return it to your club leader or other person from whom 
you received it, or mail it to the following address: Research Department, 264 Boylston Street, Boston, 
Massachusetts. 



APPENDIX A. 



189 



1. Firm name 



Form No. 2. 
Noon Lunch in Factories and Stores. 

2. Address 3. Business 



4. Worker's birthplace 5. Birthplace of (a) Father (b) Mother 

6. Living conditions 7. (o) Distance of home from work (6) Minutes: (1) Ride 

(2) Walk 
8. Occupation 9. Time: (a) Sitting (6) Standing (c) Walking 

10. Earnings per week: (o) Time (6) Piece 11. Noon period: from to 



12. Lunch brought: (o) No. of days 

13. Heating appliances: (o) Available 

14. Use of spare time 

15. Packing of lunch: (o) By whom 

16. Reasons for bringing 

17. Lunch menus of to-day and yesterday 



(b) Where eaten 
(6) Used for 

(6) How 



18. Lunch bought: (o) No. of days 

19. Reasons for buying 

20. Lunch menus of to-day and yesterday, cost of each 



(6) Where 



Remarks 



Date 
Inveatigaior. 



190 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

Form No. 3. 
Employees' Lunch Rooms. 

1. Is there a lunch room for women employees? Do men eat there also? Is 

there a separate one for men? A separate one for office women? Is a 

rest or recreation room combined with the lunch room? Hours during which women 

employees eat lunch? Is there a matron in charge of lunch room? What 

are her total hours on duty? 

2. In the women employees' lunch room are lunches eaten at tables or at counters? Do 

the women wait on themselves? May employees use heating facilities of lunch 

room to cook for themselves? Are there heating facilities in another room which 

they may use? Check kind of facility supplied: Gas Electricity 

Coal range How many burners or places? Is there an oven? 

Are cooking dishes furnished by the firm or the employee? 

3. How many lunch tables are there? Total seating capacity at tables? 

What are the sizes of the tables and how many of each size? 

When in use are they bare or covered? With paper? With oilcloth? 

With linen? Is linen white? Unbleached? Colored? 

How often laundered? 

4. Are dishes furnished by the firm? Are they china? Enamel ware? Are 

knives, forks and spoons of silver plate? Are glasses furnished for beverages? 

Is there a coffee urn? A cocoa urn? A milk urn? An ice box or 

chest? A steam table? 

5. Number of women employed by the firm? How many usually buy their lunch or a 

part of it in the lunch room? How many usually bring lunches? 

Where do they eat them? How many usually eat lunch at home? 

6. Please indicate the amount usually spent in the lunch room by women for their noon lunch 

The amount usually spent by men Are these amounts estimated, or calculated 

from some checking or tally system? 

7. Is the lunch room run at cost? At profit? At a loss? 

What is the cost per week for raw materials? For fuel? For entire 

preparation of the food? For the serving of food? For clearing away? 

For space? For light? For heat? For upkeep? 

For salaries? What articles of food are purchased ready to serve, to save baking or 

cooking? 

8. How many people are required to prepare the lunch? To serve it? 

To clear away? How many persons who assist in the preparation or serving are 

also employed by the firm outside the lunch room? Is the lunch room managed by 

a person in the employ of the firm, or leased to a contractor? Does a house 

committee have any oversight of the lunch room? How many members? 

How long does a member serve? Are both employers and employees 

represented on this committee? 

9. Check any of the following things which are furnished for the lunch room: Piano 

Graphophone Magazines Books Newspapers A permanent li- 

brary A station of the city library Are any of these furnished in a separate rest 

or recreation room? Please name any other attractive features in the furnishings or 

equipment of the lunch room 

10. If possible, kindly enclose menus for six consecutive days, sample of check or ticket used in sale 
of food, and any booklets or literature in regard to equipment for the comfort, recreation and 
education of employees. 

Please state your opinion of providing lunch facilities for women employees, as a business policy. 

Name of firm 

Manager of Lunch Room. 
Return to Research Department, Women's Educational and Industrial Union, 264 Boylston 
Street, Boston. 



APPENDIX A. 191 

Form No. 4. 
Organized Houses for Women. ^ 

1. Name 2. Addresa 3. When founded 

4. Purpose 

5. Is the plant owned by the association? 6. Estimated value 

7. How supported? Endowment Donations Fee from guests 

8. Income from all sources (last fiscal year) 

9. Amounts paid for taxes 10. Insurance 11. Interest 

12. Who are the beneficiaries? 

Age limit Wage limit References required 

13. Capacity of the house 14. Number of guests Date 

15. Provisions for transients Number accommodated Date 

16. How do girls learn about the house? 

Do you advertise? Co-operate with room registries? 

17. List of guests, classified by age and wage groups. (When supplied, this was put on a separate 

sheet.) 

18. General appearance of house 

19. Provisions for social life of guests ' 

20. Library 

21. Medical department 

22. Laundry, equipment Charge Extent of patronage 

23. Sewing room, equipment Extent of patronage 

24. Does the house furnish towels and bed linen? Launder them? 

25. Cost of supervising the house 

26. Cost of cleaning the lodging and social part of the house Number employed 
Total weekly wages 

27. Is the house used as a neighborhood social center? 

28. Where is the dining room located? 

29. General appearance 

30. Equipment: Tables, number and sizes Covering of tables Dishes, etc. 

31. Meal hours 

32. Method of serving 

33. Estimates of costs of dining-room department for one week: Lighting 
Cleaning Serving the food Preparation of food 
Laundering 

34. Raw materials used in one week. (This information was supplied in the shape of bills, storeroom 

orders or reports from cooks or managers.) 
(o) Meat (cuts) Amounts Costs 

(6) Fowl and fish 

(c) Milk, cream, butter and eggs (each item separate) 

(d) Fruits and fresh vegetables 

(e) Flour and cereals 
(/) Groceries 

35. Is there a dietitian in the house? If so, what training and duties are required? 

36. Are employees served the same food as guests? 

37. When do they eat? Number served from dining room 

38. Are dining-room employees used in caring for the lodging part of the house? 

39. How are supplies purchased? Retail Wholesale in open market 
Wholesale, with bids Wholesale, contracts for future delivery 

40. Provisions for storing food 

41. Accounting of storeroom 

42. Menus for one week 

43. Reports giving itemized summaries of income from all sources, and expenditures for the entire 

house 
Remarks: 



* The information about the organized houses was obtained on two schedules and in various forms. 
Bills, storeroom orders and reports from persons in charge were supplemented with data gathered 
from printed reports. The topics covered in both the visitors' and house managers' schedules are 
included in this form. 



192 



FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



Form No. 5. 
Food and Living Conditions of Women Dispensary Patients.^ 

1. Name 2. Address 3. Age 

4. Birthplace: (o) Individual (6) Father (c) Mother 

5. Years in U. S.: (o) Individual (6) Father (c) Mother 

6. Occupation: (a) Father (b) Mother 

7. Number in the. home, indicate kinship and which are wage earners 

8. Tenement, floor Separate house No. rooms Inside rooms 



9. Occupation of subject 
12. Time in present position 
14. Wages: Time Piece 

16. Hours of work, from to 
Overtime 

17. Time per day: Sitting Standing, 

18. Workroom: Floor Elevator 

19. Hours per week: (a) Housework 



10. Employer 11. Age of beginning work 

13. Other positions during past year 

Amount per week 15. Idle time last year 

Noon period, from to Total weekly 

Walking, Going to work. Ride, walk 

Lighting Temperature Dust Odors 

(6) Sewing (c) Laundering 



20. Forms and amount per week of recreation 



21. Bedroom of subject: (o) Daylight (6) Heat 
(d) Open at night 

22. Toilet 23. Bathroom 

25. Physical condition, former illnesses 

26. Teeth: (o) When cleaned (&) Decayed (c) Pulled 

27. Weight: (a) Present (6) Best (c) Lowest 



30. Meals: Hot 
Breakfast 
Lunch 
Supper 

31. Use of Tea 



At home 



Milk 



At work 



Hours 



(c) Outside windows 



24. Baths, how often 



(d) Ache 
28. Height 
Time spent 



(e) Visits to dentist 
29. Skin 
Alone 



Candy 



Water 



Coffee 



Alcohol 



Pickles 



32. Remarks a 



' This form is taken largely from the one used in a prior study of women dispensary patients made 
at the Massachusetts General Hospital. See p. 126, note 4. 

2 Menus for dispensary patients were obtained on Forms Nos. 1 and 6. 



APPENDIX A. 



193 



Form No. 6. 
Food eaten in One Week and what it costs. 



Days (please fill in Dates). 


What did You 

eat for 

Breakfast? 


What did 

You eat for 

Lunch? 


What did 

You eat for 

Supper? 


Where did You 
eat Each of 
these Meals, 

and what did 
Each cost? 


Monday, . . . . 
Date. 










Tuesday, 

Date. 










Wednesday, 

Date. 










Thursday, 

Date. 










Friday, 

Date. 










Saturday, 

Date. 










Sunday 

Date. 











Please mail the completed record to Research Department, 264 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. (A 
stamped and addressed envelope was left with each person who was requested to return the form.) 



194 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



Appendix B, 



FIRMS HAVING AN EMPLOYEES' CAFETERIA. 
Mercantile Establishments. 

1. L. S. Ayres Compan}', Indianapolis, Ind. 

2. Bloomingdale Bros., New York, N. Y. 

3. Chandler & Co., Boston, Mass. 

4. The Emporium, San Francisco, Cal. 

5. Marshall Field & Co., Chicago, 111. 

6. Wm. Filene's Sons Company, Boston, Mass. 

7. Gilchrist Company, Boston, Mass. 

8. Gimbel Bros., Philadelphia, Pa. 

9. Greenhut-Siegel-Cooper Company, .... New York, N. Y. 

10. Hochschild Kohn Company, Baltimore, Md. 

11. The Halle Bros. Company, Cleveland, Ohio. 

12. C. F. Hovey & Co., Boston, Mass. 

13. Jordan Marsh Company, Boston, Mass. 

14. LaSalle & Koch Company, Toledo, Ohio. 

15. R. H. Macy & Co., New York, N. Y. 

16. Magrane Houston Company, Boston, Mass. 

17. R. H. Stearns & Co., Boston, Mass. 

18. John Wanamaker, Philadelphia, Pa. 

19. R. H. White Company, Boston, Mass. 

20. Woodward & Lothrop, Washington, D. C. 

Factories. 

1. Ballard & Ballard, Louis\'ille, Ky. 

2. H. Black & Co. (Wooltex), Cleveland, Ohio. 

3. Cleveland Twist Drill Company, .... Cleveland, Ohio. 

4. Dennison Manufacturing Company, . . . Framingham, Mass. 

5. Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y. 

6. Joseph & Feiss Company (Clothcraft), . . . Cleveland, Ohio. 

7. Pels & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 

8. National Lamp Works of General Electric Com- 

panj', East Cleveland, Ohio. 

9. Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Com- 

pany, East Pittsburg, Pa. 

10. Western Electric Company, New York, N. Y. 

11. H. J. Heinz Company, Allegheny, Pa. 

12. International Harvester Company, .... Chicago, III. 



APPENDIX B. 



195 



13. Larkin Manufacturing Company, 

14. Lowe Bros. Company, 

15. National Cash Register Company, 

16. National Biscuit Company, 

17. The Norton Company, 

18. Thos. G. Plant Shoe Company, 

19. Swift & Co., 

20. Shredded Wheat Company, 

21. J. P. Squire & Co., . 

22. Sherwin-Williams Company, 

23. Talbot Mills, .... 

24. United States Steel Corporation, 

25. United States Envelope Company, 

26. United Shoe Machinery Company, 

27. Wood Worsted Mill, . 

28. Westinghouse Air Brake Company, 

29. Waltham Watch Company, 

30. Packard Motor Company, . 

31. Jeffrey, Thos. B., Company, 

32. Royal Worcester Corset Company, 



Buffalo, N. Y. 
Dayton, Ohio. 
Dayton, Ohio. 
New York, N. Y. 
Worcester, Mass. 
Boston, Mass. 
Chicago, 111. 
Niagara Falls, N. Y. 
Cambridge, Mass. 
Cleveland, Ohio. 
North Billerica, Mass. 
New York, N. Y. 
Springfield, Mass. 
Beverly, Mass. 
Lawrence, Mass. 
Wilmerding, Pa. 
Waltham, Mass. 
Detroit, Mich. 
Kenosha, Wis. 
Worcester, Mass. 



Others. 

1. Public Service Railway Company of New Jersey, . Newark, N. J. 

2. First National Bank, Chicago, 111. 

3. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, . . . New York, N. Y. 

4. New York Life Insurance Company, . . . New York, N. Y. 

5. Curtis Pubhshing Company, Philadelphia, Pa. 

6. Outlook Company, New York, N. Y. 

7. Plimpton Press, Norwood, Mass. 

8. New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Boston, Mass. 

9. Women's Educational and Industrial Union, . . Boston, Mass. 



196 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 



Appendix •' C 



METHODS OF CALCULATING THE VARIETY OF FOOD. 

In considering variety of food eaten in one week, two difficulties of 
classification were encountered, — first, the schedules to be used did 
not include reports of the same number of meals in all cases, and 
second, the variety of food was large and, at first glance, bewildering. 
Since the food schedules were filled in for periods varying in length 
from two days to seven, the following method for reducing all menus 
to 21 meals was adopted. 

The variety of food eaten at one meal w^as regarded as l/21 of the 
probable total variety for a week. All schedules containing the same 
number of meals were placed in one group, numbers showing the fre- 
quency of occurrence of different kinds of food for the group were 
found, and multiplied by 2l/X, X representing the number of meals 
of each person in the group. The products were divided by the num- 
bers of persons in the groups. This method resulted in the short- 
comings of one group correcting those of another. Six meals were 
evidently a fair sample of 21 meals. The following table shows the 
similarity in proportion of the foods of different kinds in the group of 
dispensary cases, where the reports covered, respectively, 21 and 6 
meals. The variety of the 21^meal group appears exactly as reported; 
the variety of the women reporting 6 meals is weighted by the method 
described above. As will readily be seen, the two groups differ little 
from each other or from the total group, which includes 21-meal, 
6-meal and intermediate groups, weighted as described (Table 76). 

In an inc^uiry of this nature no attempt to obtain any kind of quan- 
titative data was feasible. Variety could, therefore, form the only 
poosible basis of comparison of menus. In general, variety indicates 
quantity to some extent, as a "helping" of meat, a slice of bread or a 
cup of coffee have fairly fixed quantitative meanings. Throughout this 
study variety of food means the number of times given articles ap- 
peared on the menus reported for one week. Percentage of variety 
means the ratio to the total variety of any one article of food. The 
total range, or variety, is the sum of the number of times all articles 
are mentioned in the menus. Since tea and coffee have little food 
value they were discussed separately; therefore total variety, as the 



APPENDIX C. 



197 



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198 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

term is used in the discussions in Chapters III. and V., means variety 
of food excluding coffee, tea and coffee substitutes. The basis of 
classification of articles was the convenient one suggested by Dr. 
Langworthy,^ and food groups were arranged as follows: — 

Group 1. — Beverages having little food value: tea, coffee, miscel- 
laneous beverages, principally soda water and coffee substitutes. 

Group 2. — Other beverages: cocoa, chocolate and milk, including 
malted milk and eggnog. 

Group 3. — Carbohydrate food: bread of all kinds; cake, including 
cookies; cereals; macaroni; desserts, including ices and puddings not 
composed chiefly of fruit; pastry, including fruit pies; and candy, of 
which mention was seldom made. 

Group 4- — Protein food: cheese, eggs, beans, fish and meats. 
Meats classified as beef, including veal; pork, including corned shoul- 
der, ham and bacon; mutton and lamb; chicken and turkey; other 
meat, including sausage and meat, kind not mentioned. (Among 
Jewish people meat usually meant beef.) 

Group 5. — Salads of all kinds, largely lettuce and fruit or vegetable 
mixtures, potatoes, and other vegetables except beans. Vegetables 
were either fresh or canned, but no attempt to distinguish the two 
could be made. 

Group 6. — Fruits, fresh or cooked, and fruit puddings. 

Group 7. — Soups. 

Group 8. — Pickles. 

No effort to classify fatty foods separately proved successful, partly 
because of the frequent omission from the menus of the mention of 
butter, although its use probably was general. Among Jewish people 
this is not true, as they do not serve butter and meat at the same 
meal. 

As will readily be seen, this classification is approximate only, 
adopted chiefly for convenience. It is obvious, for example, that 
pastry does not belong exclusively to the carbohydrate group, beans 
to the protein group, or potatoes to the mineral group. Almost all of 
the foods could have been classified under more than one head. 
Because of the difficulty of properly classifying liquid foods, soups, 
cocoa and milk are kept separate throughout the discussion. 

' See Langworthy, C. F.: Food Selections for Rational and Economical Living, Scientific Monthly, 
Vol. II., No. 3 (March, 1916), pp. 302, 303. 



APPENDIX D. 199 



Appendix D. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Reliable works dealing with the most important aspects of dietetics 
are included in the following list of books and magazine articles. 
While the books intended for physicians are usually too technical for 
lay readers, the bulk of the citations are within the grasp of any 
person who has received a secondary school education. References 
to the many excellent bulletins issued from the Food Laboratory of 
the Bureau of Chemistry of the United States Department of Agri- 
culture are omitted. These are often of great practical value, and 
are distributed without charge or sold for a trifling sum. Persons 
interested in following the results of original research in this field 
should consult the current numbers of the "Journal of Biological 
Chemistry" and the publications of the Carnegie Nutrition Laboratory. 

Bayliss, W. H. "The Physiology of Food and Economy in Diet." London. 
Longmans, Green & Co., 1917, 107 p. 
Written for use during the present war. A simple but scholarly presentation 
of essentials. 
Brewster, Edwin Tenney, and Brewster, Lilian. "The Nutrition of a House- 
hold," Boston and New York. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1915, 208 p. 
Revision of a series of magazine articles dealing with the subject in a non- 
technical way. 
Bryce, Alexander. "Modern Theories of Diet and their Bearing upon Practical 
Dietetics." New York. Longmans, Green & Co., 1912, 368 p. 
Summarizes theories of metabolism, and gives a critical discussion of the 
theories and practices of vegetarianism, low-protein and purin-free diets, 
schemes recommending special uses of mineral salts, water, curdled milk, 
etc., and various fasting and forced feeding plans. 
Cathcart, E. P. "The Physiology of Protein Metabolism." London and New 
York. Longmans, Green & Co., 1912, 142 p. 
Gives the important results of the investigations of the protein requirements 
of the body, the effects of starvation and bodily activity on the utilization 
of proteins, and the extent to which fats and carbohydrates may serve as 
sparers of protein. 
Cannon, Walter B. "The Mechanical Factors of Digestion." New York. 
Longmans, Green & Co., 1911, 227 p. 
Reports the results of investigations of the activities of the digestive tract 
made at Harvard University. 



200 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

Cannon, Walter B. "Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage, an 
Account of Recent Researches into the Function of Emotional Excitement." 
New York and London. D. Appleton & Co., 1915. 
Carlson, Anton Julius. "The Control of Hunger in Health and Disease." 
Chicago. University of Chicago Press, 1916, 319 p. 
Reports of experiments made at Chicago University. 
Chittendon, Russell H. "Physiological Economy in Nutrition." New York. 
Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1904, 478 p. 
Reports of the results of experiments with a low-protein diet by soldiers of the 
United States army and Yale students. 

"The Nutrition of Man." New York. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 

1907, 321 p. 
Explains the processes connected with nutrition, and presents the arguments 
for a low-protein diet. 
Davis, Nathan S. " Food in Health and Disease." Philadelphia. P. Blakiston's 
Sons & Co., 1912, 449 p. 
Deals with the general principles of dietetics and with diets suitable for per- 
sons suffering from various diseased conditions. 
Friedenwald, Julius, and Ruhrah, John. "Diet in Health and Disease." Phila- 
delphia and London. W. B. Saunders Company, 1913, 857 p. 
Li addition to a discussion of the chemistry and phj^siology of digestion, and 
the composition of foods, this book prescribes dietaries for persons suffering 
from various diseases. 
Gebhart, F. C, and Lusk, Graham. "Anatysis and Cost of Ready-to-serve 
Foods." Chicago. Press of the American Medical Association, 1915, 
83 p. 
Reports the food values of dishes commonly served in restaurants. 
Hoist, Axel. "Diet in Relation to Disease." International Congress of Hygiene 
and Demography Transactions, IL, 583-590, 1912. 
Gives the results of experiments at the Hygiene Institute of the University of 
Christiana, showing the effects of the absence from the diet of certain en- 
zymes or vitamines. 
Jordon, Whitman. "Principles of Human Nutrition, a Study in Practical Die- 
tetics." New York. Macmillan Company, 1912, 450 p. 
One of the less technical presentations of the subject. 
Langworthy, C. F. "Food Selection for Rational Living." Scientific Monthly, 
IL, 294-306 (March, 1916). 
A brief explanation of the nutritional needs of the body and easily understood 
directions for selecting a properly balanced ration. 
Leathes, J. B. "The Fats." London and New York. Longmans, Green & Co., 
1910. 
Discussion of the characteristics and properties of fats. 
Lusk, Graham. "The Elements of the Science of Nutrition." Philadelphia 
and London. W. B. Saunders Company, 1909, 315 p. 
One of the best discussions of the subject. 



APPENDIX D. 201 

Lusk, Graham. "The Fundamental Basis of Nutrition." New Haven. Yale 
University Press, 1914, 62 p. 
Condensed summary of the essential facts about nutrition. 
McCaskey, D. "Vitamines and Cooking." Scientific Monthly, CXIII., 379 
(Oct. 30, 1915). 
Information based on personal observations about the effects of an absence of 
the so-called vitamines from the diet. 
McCay, Major D. "The Protein Element in Nutrition." New York. Long- 
mans, Green & Co., 1912, 216 p. 
Shows that the more vigorous races have used a high protein diet. 
Mendel, Lafayette B. "Newer Points of View about the Part played by Dif- 
ferent Food Substances in Nutrition." Journal of the American Medical 
Association, LXIIL, 819-822 (Sept. 5, 1914). 
Condensed summary of the results of recent investigations, particularly those 
dealing with the nutritional values of proteins and fats. 

"Nutrition and Growth." The Harvey Lectures, 1914-15. Philadelphia 

and London. J. P. Lippincott Company, 1915. 

"Changes in the Food Supply and their Relation to Nutrition." New 

Haven. Yale University Press, 1916, 61 p. 
A brief, easily understood discussion of practical value to the lay reader. 
Noorden, Carl von. " Metabolism and Practical Medicine." Chicago. W. T. 
Keener & Co., 1907, 3 vols., 452, 1320 p. 
Full treatment, suitable for physicians. 
Plonies, W. "Diet as a Weighty Factor of Casual Therapeutics in Severe Dis- 
eases of the Stomach and Intestines, in Troubles of Metabolism, Kidney 
Troubles, Disorders of the Circulation, in Pulmonary Diseases, and in 
Nervous and Mental Diseases." International Congress of Hygiene and 
Demography Transactions, II., 483-535. 
Rose, Mary Swartz. " Feeding the Family." New York. The Macmillan Com- 
pany, 1916, 449 p. 
Particularly valuable for its presentation of the food requirements of children 
of different ages. Many recipes and menus suitable for family use are given. 
Sherman, Henry C. "Chemistry of Food and Nutrition." New York. The 
Macmillan Company, 1911, 355 p. 
Presents the principles of the chemistry of food and nutrition, with special 
reference to the food requirements of man and the considerations which 
should underlie our judgment of the nutritive value of food. 
Stiles, Percy Goldthwait. "Nutritional Physiology." Philadelphia and Lon- 
don, 1916. 288 p. 
An excellent summary of information about the processes by which food is 
transformed into human energy. 
Taylor, Alonzo Englebert. "Digestion and Metabolism, the Physiological and 
Pathological Chemistry of Nutrition." Philadelphia and New York. Lea 
& Febiger, 1912, 560 p. 
Describes the chemical changes in normal and abnormal digestion, and ex- 
plains the modifications that food materials undergo within the body. In- 
tended primarily for physicians. 



202 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 

Thompson, Sir Henry. "Diet in Relation to Age and Activity wdth Hints con- 
cerning Habits conducive to Longevity." London. Frederick Warne & 
Co., 134 p. 

Underbill, Frank P. " Tbe Pbysiology of the Anaino Acids." New Haven. Yale 
University Press, 1915, 169 p. 

Voegtlin, Carl. "The Chemical Nature and Physiological Significance of So- 
called Vitamines." The Scientific Monthly, H., 289-293 (March, 1916). 



INDEX. 



INDEX." 



Accounting System, organized houses, 
106. 

Adequacy of Diet, organized houses, 
114-117. 

Adrift, term applied to women, 69. 

Age, women adrift, 70, 71; women in 
organized houses, 106, 124; dispen- 
sary patients, 127, 130, 132, 134. 

Age at Beginning Work, women dispen- 
sary patients, 155. 

American Working Women, variety of 
food in menu, 38-42. 

Anemia, women dispensary patients suffer- 
ing from, 135. 

Apartment Houses, for light house- 
keeping, 172-173. 

Attractiveness of Food Service, im- 
portance of, 114, 121. 



Back Bay, living expenses of self-support- 
ing women, 77. 

Baked Beans, see Beans. 

Baltimore, statistics of women at work, 
14, 15, 16; retail food prices compared 
with Boston, 17; number of women 
workers living at home, and boarding, 
66. 

Basement Dining Rooms, organized 
houses, 121. 

Bathing Facilities, dispensary patients, 
156-157. 

Beal Nurses Home, purpose and manage- 
ment, 108. 

Beans, frequency of use in menu, 94; as 
part of breakfast, 96; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 137, 138, 143, 
144, 150, 152; of low-wage workers, 
174. 

Beef, see Meat. 

Bethany Union, purpose and manage- 
ment, 107. 

Beverages, classification, 198. 

Bibliography, 199-202. 

Bill of Fare, see Menus. 



Board, expenditure of workers for, 75, 
83; cost with room in organized 
houses, 115. 

Boarders, women workers reported as, 
66-67. 

Boarding Houses, cost of food, 83, 84; 
comparison with restaurants, 86; see 
also Organized Houses. 

Bookbinder, metabolism of, 116. 

Boston, statistics of women at work, 13- 
16; retail food prices compared with 
other cities, 17; number of women 
workers living at home, and board- 
ing, 66-68. 

Box Lunches, attitude of workers towards, 
42. 

Bread, in average menu, 18, 38, 40, 45, 46, 
100; frequency of use, 90, 95; con- 
sumption in low-wage group, 93; as 
part of breakfast, 96; served by 
organized houses, 110-113; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 138, 139, 140; of 
immigrant groups, 145, 149; in con- 
stipation cases, 150; sample menu, 
152-153; excessive use of, 174. 

Breakfast, working women, 93, 96; time 
taken for, 153; omission of, 154. 

Brooke House, purpose and manage- 
ment, 107. 

Brookline, living expenses of self-support- 
ing women, 77. 

Brush Factories, living arrangements of 
women workers, 67. 

Butter, in Russian diet, 143; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 152, 153. 

Cafeteria, Employees, patronage, 22, 
23; luncheon cost, 47, 49-54; depart- 
ment stores, 47-49; comparison with 
commercial restaurants, 49-54, 58; 
types, 59-60; equipment, 60-62; cost 
of food and prices, 61-64; firms con- 
ducting, 194-195. 

Cafeteria Service, restaurants, 45; or- 
ganized houses, 122. 



Prepared by Ethel M. Johnson, librarian of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union. 



206 



INDEX. 



Cake, in average menu, 18, 38, 42, 46; 
frequency of use, 91, 95; on menus of 
organized houses, 110-113; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 138, 139, 143; 
of immigrant groups, 145; in consti- 
pation cases, 150; sample menu, 152- 
153. 

California Immigration Commission, 
domestic science instruction provided 
by, 163. 

Calories, Food, menus of organized 
houses, 115; requirements of working 
women, 116. 

Cambridge, living expenses of self-sup- 
porting women, 77. 

Canadian Women, kind of food in menu, 
38-42. 

Candt, in average menu, 39, 44; in 
limches put up by organized houses, 
113; in diet of dispensary patients, 
149. 

Candy Factoriesi living arrangements of 
women workers, 67. 

Carbohydrate Foods, variation with 
wage groups, 89-91; frequency in 
weekly menu, 92, 95; proportion in 
diet of dispensary patients, 136, 138, 
139, 140, 142; increase in use with 
wage, 143; relation of nationality to, 
145; in constipation cases, 148, 150; 
frequency in diet of dispensarj' pa- 
tients, 197; foods included, 198. 

Cereals, in average menu, 18, 46, 90-91; 
increase in use with wages, 91; fre- 
quency of use, 95-96; on menus of 
organized houses, 110-113; as protein 
source, 118; in diet of dispensary pa- 
tients, 138, 139, 143, 145, 152, 153; 
in constipation cases, 150; in diet of 
high-wage workers, 174. 

Charlesbank Homes, purpose and man- 
agement, 108. 

Cheese, in average menu, 38, 40, 46; 
frequency of use, 94, 99; on menus 
of organized houses, 109; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 137-138, 143, 
144; in constipation cases, 150; in 
diet of wage earners, 166. 

Chicago, statistics of women at work, 
14-16; retail food prices, 17; liiHing 
arrangements of women workers, 66; 
rates of boarding houses, 120. 

Chicken, see Meat. 

Choice of Food, see Variety of Food. 

Churches, assistance in living arrange- 
ments for women, 179. 



Classification of food, 198. 

Clerical Workers, dispensary patients, 
131; wages, 132; dispensary depart- 
ments, 133; diagnoses, 135. 

Cleveland, statistics of women at work, 
13-16; retail food prices, 17; li\-ing 
arrangements of women workers, 66. 

Clothing Factories, h-\-ing arrangements 
of women workers, 67. 

Cocoa, in average menu, 18, 39, 46, 90; 
frequency of use, 92, 174; on menus 
of organized houses, 112; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 136, 140, 142, 
143, 152, 153, 197; constipation cases, 
146, 148; in diet of high- wage workers, 
174. 

Coffee, in average menu, 18, 39, 45, 46; 
f requeue J' of use, 91; increase with 
wage, 93; on menus of organized 
houses, 110-113; in diet of dispensary 
patients, 146, 149, 152, 197; frequency 
in diet of low-wage workers, 174. 

Cold Lunches, employees' reasons for 
preference, 28; factory workers, 163; 
bad effects, 164. See also Lunches, 

Colored Women, organized home for, 
108, 123. 

Combinations, commercial restaurants, 
45-46. 

Constipation, women dispensary patients, 
135; Russian women, 146; in relation 
to diet, 148-151; causes, 149, 174, 
175; dietary treatment, 166. 

Cooking Facilities, pro\-isions for fac- 
tory workers, 36-37; in organized 
houses, 123; see also Cafeterias, Em- 
ployees'. 

Co-oPERATrvE Boarding Houses, estab- 
hshment, 102; capacity and occu- 
pants, 103. 

Co-operative Housekeeping, 83, 87, 99- 
100, 173; working women, 177-179; 
expenses, 177; objections to, 178; 
outlook for, 179. 

Co-operative Lunches, factory workers, 
37; lunch arrangements, 165. 

Corn Meal, unpopularity, 99. 

Corset Factories, h\ang arrangements 
of women workers, 67. 

Cost of Food, comparison in different 
cities, 17, 19; in organized houses, 
117-121. 

Cost of Living, self-supporting women, 
78-89; comparison with family group, 
180; in different wage groups, 82; 
low-wage group, 88-89. 



INDEX. 



207 



Debility, women dispensary patients, 135. 
Defective Diet, danger, 184. 
Delicatessen Shops, in connection with 

light housekeeping, 85. 
Department Stores, lunch room facilities 
for employees, 21, 22, 23, 32; em- 
ployees' cafeterias, 47-64; comparison 
with commercial restaurants, 49-54, 
58; variety of food, 54-58; types of 
lunch rooms, 59-60; equipment, 60- 
62; patronage and prices, 61-64; im- 
portance of, 166. See also Sales- 
women. 

Designers, wages reported, 25; length of 
lunch period, 30. 

Desserts, frequency in menu, 91, 95; 
served by organized houses, 110-112; 
in diet of dispensary patients, 138, 
139, 143, 145; in constipation cases, 
150. 

Diet, relation to health, 126-161, 182-184. 

Dietary, organized houses, 106-121; ade- 
quacy, 114-117; protein food calories 
supplied, 115-117; cost of food, 117- 
121; source of proteins, 118; for high- 
wage and low-wage workers, 174. See 
also Menu. 

Dietary Habits, women adrift, 93-99. 

Dietetics, need for instruction in, 163, 
166, 167, 173, 176, 184. 

Digestive Disorders, women dispensary 
patients, 135; relation of diet to, 143, 
146. See also Constipation. 

Dining Rooms, organized houses, 121. 

Diseases, women dispensary patients, 135. 

Dispensary Patients, 126-160; classifica- 
tion, 127-135; diagnoses, 135; kind 
and variety of food eaten, 135-153, 
197; in relation to nationality, 142- 
147; in relation to certain disorders, 
148-152; eating habits, 153-154; eco- 
nomic status of families, 154-155; 
hving conditions, 156-157; working 
conditions, 157-159; hours of labor, 
158; use of leisure time, 159-160; 
questionnaire used, 192-193. 

Domestic Servants, number living in 
organized houses, 104; number adrift, 
105; dispensary patients, 133. 

Doughnuts, as part of breakfast, 96. 

Dressing Rooms, aa place for eating 
lunch, 22. 

Earnings, women in subsidized houses, 

105-106. See also Wages. 
Eating Habits, women adrift, 168-176. 



Eggs, in average menu, 18, 38, 40, 46, 90; 
frequency of use, 94, 96; on menus of 
organized houses, 109-112; as protein 
source, 118; in diet of dispensary pa- 
tients, 137, 138, 143, 144; in constipa- 
tion cases, 150, 152, 153; frequency in 
diet of low-wage workers, 174. 

Eleanor Association, mention of, 103. 

Emotions, effect on digestion, 171. 

Employees' Cafeterias, see Cafeterias, 
Employees'. 

Employees' Lunch Rooms, importance of, 
166; questionnaire regarding, 190. See 
also Cafeterias, Employees'. 

Employers', interest in lunch service for 
workers, 165, 166. 

English Women, variety of food in menu, 
38-41. 

Expenditure for Food, women adrift, 
72-78, 174, 175-176, 180; effect of 
residence on, 75-77; increase with 
wage, 89-90, 96-97, 99, 169, 176; 
women in organized houses, 115, 120, 
121, 122, 179; in co-operative house- 
keeping, 177-178. 

Factories, providing cooking facilities for 
employees, 36; living arrangements 
of women workers, 67; boarding home, 
102; list of those with cafeterias for 
employees, 194-195. 

Factory Lunch Service, importance of, 
165-166. 

Factory Workers, inclusion in study, 20; 
methods of obtaining noon lunch, 21; 
eating facilities, 22; proportion bring- 
ing lunch from home, 23 ; weekly wage, 
24-28 ; reasons for bringing lunch from 
home, 27-28, 35; length of noon 
period, 26-30, 35; use of spare time, 
31, 32; relation of nativity to kind of 
lunch, 33-35; use of cooking facilities 
pro\-ided, 36-37; prices paid for 
lunches, 43, 45-47. 

Families, dispensary patients, 154r-155. 

Family Budgets, comparison with indi\'id- 
uals, 176. 

Family Group, women workers outside, 
65-100. 

Fatigue, relation to digestive disorders, 
157; resulting from light housekeeping, 
170; effect on digestion, 171; result- 
ing from excess protein, 175. 

Fats, lack of in Russian diet, 143. 

Fireless Cookers, for light housekeeping, 
174. 



208 



INDEX. 



Fish, in average menu, 18, 38, 40, 45, 46, 
90; frequency of use, 94, 96; unpopu- 
larity, 99; on menus of organized 
houses, 109-112; in diet of dispensary 
patients, 137, 138, 143, 144, 152; in 
constipation cases, 150. 

Food, received as wage, 14. 

Food Values, see Calories, Food. 

Foreign Working Women, proportion, 
Boston, 15, 16. See also Nationality 
OF Workers. 

Forewomen, wages reported, 25. 

Frances E. Willard House, purpose and 
management, 107. 

Franklin Square House, purpose and 
management, 108. 

Free Lunches, number of firms providing, 
63, 64. 

French Women's Christian Associa- 
tion, purpose and management, 108. 

Fruit, in average menu, 18, 39, 42, 46, 91, 
93; increase in consumption with 
wages, 93; as part of breakfast, 96; 
frequency of use, 98; on menus of 
organized houses, 109-113; in diet 
of dispensary patients, 138, 140, 141, 
147; of garment workers, 149; in 
constipation cases, 151; need of 
factory women, 165; in diet of wage 
earners, 166; in diet of high-wage 
workers, 174. 

Fruit Venders, 42, 44. 

Garment Workers, constipation among, 

146. 
Gas, charge for Ught housekeeping, 85. 
German Women, variety of food in menu, 

38, 42. 

Harriet Tubman House, purpose and 
management, 108. 

Health, influence of diet on, 182-184. 

Health Provisions, organized houses, 
124. 

Hemenway, The, purpose and manage- 
ment, 108. 

Hemenway House, purpose and manage- 
ment, 108. 

Home Making, instruction for single 
women, 172. 

Home-prepared Lunches, number of 
women interviewed bringing, 21, 23; 
factors determining, 24-35; relation 
of wage to, 24-29; relation of length 
of noon period to, 29-30; relation of 



employment to, 30-34; relation of 
nationality to, 34-35; provisions for 
supplementing, 35-37; kinds of food 
brought, 37-42; proportion of depart- 
ment store workers bringing, 54. 

Homes, see Organized Houses. 

Hosiery Factories, living arrangement 
of women workers, 67. 

Hospitals, see Dispensaries. 

Hot Lunches, employees' reasons for 
preference, 27, 29. See also Cooking 
Facilities and Lunches. 

Hotels for Women, commercial, number 
in Boston, 103. 

Hours of Work, effect on health, 154; 
dispensary patients, 157-158. 

Housework, use of leisure time for, 159- 
160. 



Ices, on menus of organized houses, 110- 

112. 
Immigrant Families, need of instruction 

in dietetics, 163. 
Income, relation to expenditure for food 

and rent, 72-90, 93, 96, 97, 99. See 

also Wages. 
Index Numbers, food prices, Boston and 

other cities, 17. 
Indigestion, relation of fatigue to, 171. 
Infant Mortality, possible causes, 184. 
Irish Working Women, variety of food in 

menu, 38-42. 
Irregularity, in meals of dispensary 

patients, 154. 
Italian Women, variety of food in menu, 

38-42. 



Jewish Religion, influence on diet, 143. 
Jewish Women, variety of food in menu, 
38-42. 



Kitchenette Apartments, need for low- 
priced, 172. 



Labor Cost, employees' cafeteria, 61. 
Laundries, living arrangements of women 

workers, 67. 
Laundry, expenditure of self-supporting 

women for, 81; facilities provided by 

organized houses, 124; done in room, 

170. 
Leisure Time, use by dispensary patients, 

159-160. 



INDEX. 



209 



Length of Noon Hour, relation to wage, 
163. 

Light Housekeeping, working women, 
83-86; charge of gas for, 85; dietarj' 
habits in connection with, 93; per 
cent, of women studied practicing, 
169; objections to, 170-172. 

Liquid Foods, in diet of dispensary pa- 
tients, 142, 146, 148, 152. 

Living Arrangements, women workers, 
66-68; in the eight largest cities, 66; 
in different industries in Massachu- 
setts, 67; group of Boston workers 
studied, 83-87; dispensary patients, 
132, 134, 156-157. 

Living Expenses, see Cost of Living. 

Living Wage, relation to food, 25, 26; to 
rent, 99. See also Wages. 

Loans, importance of, to working women, 
175. 

Lodgings, women workers, see Organized 
Houses; also Rent. 

Loneliness, women adrift, 69, 71. 

"Lone-woman Plan of Living," 168-173. 

Low- wage Workers, expenditures, 88-89; 
diet, 93, 174. 

Lunch Allowance, working girls, 47. 

Lunch Room Facilities, need for, in 
business establishments, 166-167. 

Lunch Rooms, Commercial, see Restau- 
rants. 

Lunches, 20-64; methods of obtaining, 21, 
23, 33; places for eating, 22-24; rela- 
tion of wages to, 24-28; length of 
noon hour, 29-30; character of work, 
30-34; by nationality, 33-35; cooking 
faciHties for, 35-36; kind of food 
brought from home, 37-42; typical 
lunch, 37; box lunches, 42; fruit 
venders as sources of supply, 42, 44; 
prices paid by employees, 43; kind 
supplied by commercial restaurants, 
44-47; combinations and prices, 45- 
46; department store cafeterias, 47- 
49; quality and prices in restaurants 
and employees' cafeterias, 49-54; 
variety of food secured in cafeterias, 
54r-58; types of lunch rooms, 59-60; 
prices paid by men and women em- 
ployees, 59; predominant prices, 61- 
63; put up by organized houses, 111 
of dispensary patients, 151, 152 
suggested improvements, 163-167 
questionnaire used, 189. 

Luxuries, absence of, in diet of dispensary 
patients, 140, 143. 



Macaroni, frequency of occurrence in 
menus, 95, 99; as substitute for vege- 
tables, 113; in diet of dispensary pa- 
tients. 138, 139; by nationality, 145; 
in constipation cases, 150; in diet of 
wage earners, 166. 

Machine Operators, strain of work, 157; 
hours, 158. 

Management, organized houses, Boston 
and vicinity, 107-108. 

Marital Condition, women dispensary 
patients, 131. 

Meal Hours, see Lunches; also Noon 
Period. 

Meals, prepared in room, 83-84; cost 
compared with restaurants, 85-86; 
manner of serving, 153-154; irregular 
periods for, 154; minimum cost at 
restaurants, 169. See also Light 
Housekeeping. 

Meat, in average menu, 18, 38, 40, 90, 97, 
100; frequency of use, 94, 96; on 
menus of organized houses, 109-112; 
as protein source, 118; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 137, 138, 140, 
143, 144, 149; in Russian diet, 143; 
in constipation cases, 150, 152, 153; 
in diet of low-wage earners, 174, 175. 

Men, predominant prices paid for lunch, 61; 
cost of necessary food, 175. 

Menus, average, 18; retail prices in con- 
nection with, 19; variety of food, 37— 
42, 89-93; prices, 43-47; sample 
menus, 52-53, 97, 152-153; served by 
organized houses, 110-112; variety re- 
quired, 114, 173-176; dispensary pa- 
tients, 140, 143. 

Menus, Economical, need for instruction 
in, 163. 

Mercantile Establishments, list of, hav- 
ing cafeterias for employees, 194. 

Metabolism, women in different occupa- 
tions, 116. 

Milk, in average menu, 18, 39, 46, 90; 
frequency of use, 92, 174; menus of 
organized houses, 110-113; as protein 
source, 118; in diet of dispensary pa- 
tients, 136, 140, 142, 143, 152-153, 
197; in constipation cases, 146, 148, 
149; in diet of high-wage worker, 174. 

Mineral Substances, in diet of women 
adrift, 92, 98; in diet of dispensary pa- 
tients, 136, 140, 141, 142, 147, 197; in 
constipation cases, 148, 151, 152; in 
diet of high-wage workers, 174. 

Minimum Wage, department stores, 25. 



210 



INDEX. 



Money Wages, proportion of women 

workers receiving, 14, 15. 
Monotony, in diet of dispensary patients, 

140, 149, 152. 
Morbidity Statistics, lack of, 182-183. 
Mutton, see Meat. 



Nation.vlity of Workers, relation to 
kind of lunch, 33-35; to kind of food, 
37-42; women adrift, 70, 71; dispen- 
sary patients, 128, 130, 132, 134, 143- 
147, 149. 

Nerve-strain, industrial, 157-158. 

Nervous Irritability, from stimulants, 
175. 

New England Kitchen, establishment, 3. 

New York Association for Improving 
the Condition of the Poor, mention 
of dietary, 176. 

New York City, statistics of women at 
work, 14-16; retail food prices com- 
pared with Boston, 17; living arrange- 
ments of women workers, 66; cost of 
living, women adrift, 79, 80; rates of 
boarding homes, 120-121. 

Noon Lunch, see Lunches. 

Noon Period, relation of length to kind 
of lunch, 26-30; relation to wage, 26, 
29; use made of, 31-32; dispensary 
patients, 153. 

Nutrition Disorders, see Digestive 
Disorders. 

Nuts, in average menu, 39, 46. 



Occupation, relation to kind of lunch, 30- 
34; to length of noon hour, 30, 32; 
women adrift, 69, 70; women living 
in organized houses, 103-105; dispen- 
sary patients, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135; 
families of patients, 155; relation to 
health, 157-159. 

OcTAViA Hill Tenements, mention of, 
172. 

Office Workers, inclusion in study, 20; 
methods of obtaining noon lunch, 21; 
eating facilities, 22; wages, 25-27; 
kind of lunch, 26, 28, 35; noon period, 
29-30, 163; use of spare time, 31, 32; 
parentage and nativity, 33; use of 
cooking facilities provided, 36-37; 
prices paid for lunches, 43, 45-47; 
number living in organized houses, 
104. 

Ohio, cost of living, women workers, 79, 
80. 



Organized Houses, food and expenses, 
101-125; classes, 101; when estab- 
lished, 102; capacity of different 
types, 103; women occupants, 103- 
106; occupations of women, 104; 
weekly earnings of women in subsidized 
houses, 105-106; food supplied in 
Boston houses, 106, 109-114; menus, 
110-112; purpose and management of 
houses, 107-108; adequacy of the 
food supplied, 114-117; prices charged, 
115, 120-121, 124; cost of food, 117- 
121; methods of serving food, 121- 
122; factors influencing use of houses, 
122-125; regulations, 122-124; food, 
179-182; charges, 179-180; lack of 
accounting system, 180; improve- 
ments suggested, 181-182; question- 
naire used, 191. 

Overcrowding, homes of dispensary pa- 
tients, 156. 

Overhead Charges, employees' cafeterias, 
63, 64. 

Paper-box Factories, living arrange- 
ments of women workers, 67. 

Pastry, in average menu, 18, 38, 46, 91; 
frequency of use, 95; on menus of 
organized houses, 110-112; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 138, 139, 143, 
145; in constipation cases, 150. 

Patients, see Dispensary Patients. 

Peanut Butter, in diet of wage earners, 
166. 

Philadelphia, statistics of women at 
work, 14-16; retail food prices com- 
pared with Boston, 17; living arrange- 
ments of wQmen workers, 66. 

Physical Strain, effect on women, 184. 

Pickles, in diet of women adrift, 90, 92; 
in diet of dispensary patients, 136, 
140, 142, 197; in constipation cases, 
148. 

Pie, in average menu, 38, 42, 45, 46, 91, 
96; on menus of organized houses, 
110-111; diet of dispensary patients, 
152. 

Piecework, relation to wage, 163. 

Piece Workers, wages, 24-26; lunches, 
25, 26, 35; use of noon period, 32. 

Pittsburg, statistics of women at work, 
13-16; retail food prices compared 
with Boston, 17; living arrangements 
of women workers, 66. 

Polish Women, variety of food in menu, 
38-41. 

Pork, see Meat. 



INDEX. 



211 



Positions, change of, dispensary patients, 
158-159. 

Potatoes, in average menu, 91; in low- 
wage group, 93; as part of breakfast, 
96; frequency of use, 98, 100; on 
menu of organized houses, 109-112; 
in diet of dispensary patients, 140, 
141, 147, 149, 152, 153; in constipa- 
tion cases, 151. 

Power Machine Operators, lunches, 23; 
wages, 25; noon period, 30, 163; use 
of spare time, 31. 

Power Machines, as place for eating 
lunch, 22, 23. 

Preventable Diseases, relation of food 
to, 126-160. 

Prices, retail, statistics, 17, 19; commercial 
restaurants, 43-47; employees' cafe- 
terias, 47, 49-54, 61-64; commercial 
cafeterias, 54; predominant prices, 
61, 63. 

Priscilla Inn, purpose and management, 
108. 

Professional Service, number of women 
engaged in living in organized houses, 
104; number adrift, 105; number of 
dispensary patients, 131, 133. 

Protein, form in which secured, 40; varia- 
tion in, with wage, 89, 90, 93, 100; 
frequency in weekly menu, 92, 94; 
in menus of organized houses, 115; 
source of, 118; in diet of dispensary 
patients, 136, 137, 138, 140, 142, 197; 
increase in use with wage, 143; in 
Russian diet, 143-144, 146; constipa- 
tion cases, 146, 148, 150, 152; in diet 
of high-wage earners, 174-175; foods 
included, 198. 

Pudding, in average menu, 18, 46, 91; on 
menus of organized houses, 110-112. 

Questionnaire, forms used in study, 187- 
193. 

Rates, organized houses, 110-112, 115; 
basis for, 117, 119-121; comparison 
with Chicago and New York houses, 
120-121. 

Raw Materials, cost in employees' cafe- 
terias, 61, 63; in school lunch service, 
86; in organized houses, 112. 

Ready-to-serve food, minimum daily 
cost, 169. 

Recreation, noon period, employees', 31- 
32, 35; provided by organized houses, 
124; dispensary patients, 159-160. See 
also Rest Rooms. 



References, requirements of organized 
houses, 123. 

Regulations, organized houses, 122-125. 

Religious Liberty, organized houses, 123. 

Rent, expenditure of self-supporting 
women for, 75-78; relation to in- 
come, 76-77; in suburbs, 173. 

Residence, effect on expenditure for food 
and rent, 75-78. 

Restaurants, patronized by factory work- 
ers, 43-47; prices paid by patrons, 43, 
83, 84; popular dishes and combina- 
tions, 45-46; kinds of food in lunch 
menus, 46; positions of patrons, 47; 
patronized by women adrift, 168, 169. 

Rest Rooms, employees, 60; need for, 165. 

Retail Stores, living arrangements of 
women workers, 67. See also De- 
partment Stores. 

Rice, omission from menus, 99; in diet of 
wage earners, 166. 

Richards, Mrs. Ellen H., mention of, 
173. 

Roommates, objection to, 78, 171. 

Room Rent, see Rent. 

Russian Women, kind of food in menu, 
38-41, 143-147, 149. 

Salads, in average menu, 18, 46, 91, 98; 
on menu of organized houses, 110- 
113; in diet of dispensary patients, 
138, 141, 143, 147, 151; inclusion, 198. 

St. Louis, statistics of women at work, 14- 
16; retail food prices, 17; living ar- 
rangements of women workers, 66. 

St. Helena's House, purpose and manage- 
ment, 107. 

Saleswomen, inclusion in study, 20; 
methods of obtaining noon lunch, 21, 
33; lunch facilities 22, 47-49; propor- 
tion bringing lunch from home, 23; 
wages, 25; length of noon period, 29- 
30, 32; use of spare time, 31, 32, 
nationality in relation to kind of lunch, 
33-35; number living in organized 
houses, 104; dispensary patients, 131, 
132, 133; diagnoses, 135, working 
conditions, 157; hours, 158. 

Sandwiches, in average menu, 18, 38; 
fillings used, 40; meat and fish pre- 
ferred by different nationalities, 41; 
restaurant prices, 45; lunches put up 
by organized houses, 113. 

School Luncheons, when started, 3; cost 
to individual, 46; per cent, of cost for 
raw material, 86; public function, 
165-166. 



212 



INDEX. 



School Lunch Department, Women's 
Educational and Industrial, men- 
tion of, 86. 

Seamstresses, metabolism, 116. 

Self-supporting Women, food problem, 
65-100; living arrangements, 66-67, 
81-85; occupations, Boston group, 69; 
age and nativity, 70-71; wages, 70, 
72-95, 98, 99; expenditure for food, 
72-89; per cent, of income spent for 
food, 75; effect of residence on expendi- 
ture, 75-77; expenditure for rent, 76- 
78; for food and rent combined, 78- 
82; expenditures of low-wage group, 
88-89; variety in choice of food, 89- 
93; dietary habits, 93-99; number of 
women adrift in Boston, 100. 

Serving, methods employed in organized 
houses, 121-122; in homes of dispen- 
sary patients, 153-154. 

Sex, dispensary patients, 127. 

Sickness, prevalent forms among women, 
183. 

Simmons College Alumni Association, 
co-operation in securing schedules, 68. 

Sleeping Arrangements, dispensary pa- 
tients, 156. 

Social Insurance, problem of women 
adrift, 167-168. 

Somerville, living expenses of women 
adrift, 77. 

Soup, in average menu, 18, 38, 46, 90; 
frequency of use, 92; on menus of 
organized houses, 110-112; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 136, 140, 142, 
146, 152, 153; in constipation cases, 
146-148; frequency in diet of dispen- 
sary patients, 197. 

South End, price of board, 75; room rent, 
77. 

Spare Time, use made by employees, 31- 
32. 

Standard of Living, readjustment of, 
162-163; women adrift, 168-176; per- 
manent character of living arrange- 
ments, 170-171. ^ee also Cost of 
Living. 

Staple Food, in diet of dispensary patients, 
140. 

Stimulants, in diet of low-wage workers, 
174. 

Students, living expenses in Boston, 87; 
boarding homes, 102-103; number in 
organized houses, 103. 

Subsidized Boarding Houses, number in 
Boston, 101; date of establishment. 



102; capacity and occupants, 103; 
earnings of women occupants, 105- 
106; lack of business methods, 117; 
methods of raising funds, 119; regula- 
tions, 123. 

Supper, time taken for, 153; manner of 
serving, 153-154. 

Swedish Women, variety of food in menu, 
38-39, 41. 

Sweets, in menus of workers, 91, 93; 
increase of, with wage, 100; in diet 
of dispensary patients, 149, 152. See 
also Candy. 

Table Waste, estimate for, 115. 

Tea, in average menu, 18, 39, 42, 46; 
frequency of use, 91; in low- wage 
group, 93; as part of breakfast, 93; 
on menus of organized houses, 110- 
113; in diet of dispensary patients, 
146, 149, 152; frequency in diet of 
low-wage workers, 174; frequency in 
diet of dispensary patients, 197. 

Teachers, number living in organized 
houses, 104. 

Teeth, influence on diet of dispensary pa- 
tients, 146, 156. 

Telephone Operators, number living in 
organized houses, 104; dispensary pa- 
tients, 131; wages, 132; dispensary 
departments, 133; diagnoses, 135; 
hours, 157, 158. 

Temporary Home for Working Women, 
purpose and management, 107. 

Trained Nurses, number living in organ- 
ized houses, 104. 

Unemployment, how met by women inter- 
viewed, 88. 

Variety of Food, women adrift, 37-42, 
173-176; increase with wage, 89-93; 
on menus of organized houses, 106, 
109-114; low-priced and high-priced 
houses, 109; diet of dispensary pa- 
tients, 140, 143; noon lunches, 165; 
method of calculating, 196-198. 

Vegetables, in average menu, 18, 38, 40, 
46, 91; increase in consumption with 
wages, 93, 100; frequency of use, 98; 
on menus of organized houses, 109- 
113; as protein source, 118; in diet of 
dispensary patients, 138, 140, 141, 147; 
increase in use with wage, 143; lack of 
in Russian diet, 146 ; in diet of garment 
workers, 149; in constipation cases, 



INDEX. 



213 



151; in diet of wage earners, 166; 
frequency of use of by low-wage 
workers, 174. 
Vocational Education, for women, 172. 

Wage Limit, guests in organized houses, 
123-124. 

Wages, food as part, 14; relation to 
workers' lunch, 24-29, 47; to length 
of noon period, 26, 29; women adrift, 
70, 72-83, 85, 87-100; average weekly, 
83; low-wage group, 88-89; relation 
to variety in menus, 89-93; relation 
to diet of dispensary patients, 140, 
155. See also Money Wage. 

Waitress, metabolism, 116. 

Waltham Watch Factory, boarding 
home, 102. 

War, effects on women, 167. 

Wash Woman, metabolism, 116. 

Water, amount taken by dispensary pa- 
tients, 146. 

Weight, comparison of working women and 
college women, 182-183. 

Welfare Work, Employers', see Cafe- 
terias, Employees', Cooking Facili- 
ties, Rest Rooms. 



Wellesley College Students, compari- 
son of physical development with that 
of wage-earning women, 182-183. 

West End, living expenses of women 
adrift, 77. 

Wilcox Hall, purpose and management, 
108. 

Women, statistics of employment, 13-16. 

Women Adrift, number in Boston, 1900 
and 1910, 105; increase in number, 
167-168; living arrangements, 168- 
173; food, 173-176. See also Self- 
supporting Women. 

Work, see Occupation. 

Workrooms, as place for eating lunch, 22. 

Working Girls' Homes, see Organized 
Houses. 

Working Period, women adrift, 71. 

Young Women, importance of adequate 
diet, 162-163, 164. 

Young Women's Christian Association, 
Boston, purpose and management, 
107; Cambridge, 107; French Young 
Women's Christian Association, 108; 
Roxbury, 108; gymnasium records, 
183-184. 



